Public Hearing to Weigh Plan to Deepen Harbor

A public hearing will be held Thursday on deepening the Port of Hueneme, a project that has long-term implications for the port’s viability, officials said.

“Ships are becoming larger and cargo volumes are becoming greater, and so for the port just to stay alive it has to look 20 to 30 years out and make sure it can handle the ships of the 21st century,” port spokesman Kam Quarles said.

Presently, the port can accommodate ships with a draft no greater than 35 feet.

The plan is to deepen the harbor to a depth of 38 to 40 feet by dredging 500,000 cubic yards of material from the sea bottom at an estimated cost of $2 million to $4 million. If approved, such work is at least four years away, Quarles said.

A preliminary study has taken about three years to complete.

The next phase of the process is a feasibility study that would consider potential environmental impacts, look at the proposed project in detail and provide a more accurate cost estimate, Quarles said.

Larger ships would enable the port to increase the cargo tonnage it can handle without expanding its land area. The tiny port is hemmed in by the city of Port Hueneme and an adjacent military base and essentially operating at capacity, handling a record volume of just under 1 million tons of cargo last year, Quarles said.

The port could also become more attractive to potential customers, he added, because larger vessels equate to lower shipping costs.

Potential spinoff effects of deepening the port, such as how much more truck traffic the community would see on its streets because of a cargo increase, are unclear, Quarles said.

The port injects an estimated $300 million into the county economy annually, and port-related activities are credited with creating 2,500 jobs a year, Quarles said.

Major products that pass through the port include automobiles and citrus fruit.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Oxnard Harbor District’s board room, 105 E. Hueneme Road.

For more information, call Bruce Williams of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which would do the work, at (213) 894-4206.