PORT OF HUENEME : Study on Channel Deepening OKd

A House committee has authorized a study that will determine if channel deepening is needed at the Port of Hueneme, a move that officials say is necessary to clear the way for further port expansion.

The study, approved Wednesday by the Public Works and Transportation Committee, would also review the design of the harbor and ways to increase efficiency of cargo-handling for both the Oxnard Harbor District and the Navy, said Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley), who asked for the study.

No federal dollars have yet been set aside to pay for the $500,000 study, said John Frith, a spokesman in Gallegly’s office. Frith said the congressman is urging legislators to make an appropriation for the study in the 1992-93 federal budget, but that funding is unlikely.

“It’s an extremely tight budget year. All of the committee chairman have less money to spend than last year,” Frith said.

Completion of the study, which would be done by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, is the first step in a long-term plan to upgrade the harbor and make the commercial seaport more attractive to shippers, said Anthony Taormina, the harbor district’s executive director.

Deepening the channel will allow a greater variety of ships to call on the port, Taormina said. The improvements, which could take as long as 16 years to complete, also will make it easier for the Naval Construction Battalion Center to quickly deploy military cargo, Taormina said.

“This is a long-term project. It has to start with this type of study and analysis,” Taormina said.

The Oxnard Harbor District shares use of the port--the only deep-water harbor between San Francisco and Los Angeles--with the Navy’s Seabee base. Gallegly sent letters to the chairman of the transportation committee earlier this year urging him to approve the study, Frith said.