HOUSTON, TX -- The Port of Houston Authority (PHA) has been named the government category winner of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's 2003 Texas Environmental Excellence Awards for its innovative use of dredged material from the Houston Ship Channel widening and deepening project. The award was presented to PHA's Chairman Jim Edmonds and environmental affairs manager Laura Fiffick during a banquet May 7 in Austin that was held in conjunction with the TCEQ's 11th annual Environmental Trade Fair and Conference.

"The Houston Ship Channel project is a stellar example of the Port Authority's commitment to good environmental stewardship," said PHA Chairman Jim Edmonds. "The greatness of Houston and the Gulf Coast region is deeply rooted in natural resources. It is important that we preserve and protect the land, air and water for future generations."

Working in collaboration with the Galveston District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other federal and state agencies, the PHA developed a major project to expand the Houston Ship Channel to more safely accommodate modern vessel traffic. The channel is being deepened from 40 feet to 45 feet and widened from 400 feet to 530 feet.

Launched in 1998, the project demonstrates the use of advanced equipment and technology to utilize hydraulically dredged material to create environmentally sound marshes and habitats. About 70 percent of all dredged materials are being used to create beneficial use sites over the 50-year project life. The sites have direct environmental and economic impacts on the Galveston Bay area, including the construction of a six-acre bird island and the creation of 220 acres of inter-tidal salt marshes with an additional 720 acres currently under construction. The project is targeted for completion in 2004 -- coinciding with the PHA's 90th anniversary.

The PHA supports the request for $48 million in federal funding for the Corps of Engineers in the fiscal year 2004 Energy and Water Appropriations bill for the ship channel project, which is considered to be the largest of its kind in the country. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) as well as U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and U.S. Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas) were instrumental in securing $36 million for the project in the FY 2003 appropriations.

Under the Waste Reduction Policy Act of 1991, the TCEQ initiated the Texas Environmental Excellence Awards in 1993 to honor the state's most outstanding waste reduction and pollution prevention projects. The awards are presented in a variety of categories to recognize individuals, organizations, schools, businesses and government organizations that have created successful programs to preserve and protect the Texas environment.

The Port of Houston Authority owns and operates the public facilities located along the Port of Houston, the 25-mile long complex of diversified public and private facilities designed for handling general cargo, containers, grain and other dry bulk materials, project and heavy lift cargo, and other types of cargo. Each year, more than 6,600 vessels call at the port, which ranks first in the U.S. in foreign waterborne tonnage, second in overall total tonnage, and sixth largest in the world. The Port Authority plays a vital role in ensuring navigational safety along the Houston Ship Channel, which has been instrumental in Houston's development as a center of international trade. The Barbours Cut Container Terminal and Central Maintenance Facility are the first of any U.S. port facilities to develop and implement an innovative Environmental Management System that meets the rigorous standards of ISO 14001. Additionally, the port is an approved delivery point for Coffee "C" futures contracts traded on the New York Board of Trade's Coffee, Sugar & Cocoa Exchange. For more information, please visit www.portofhouston.com.

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