Read full article in the Baltimore Banner

“A historic waterfront property is about to undergo a massive redevelopment that could dramatically change the future of Baltimore. …

“It’s Coke Point, a small, heavily polluted peninsula that juts into the Chesapeake Bay from Sparrows Point. … “In 2022, Tradepoint Atlantic, a logistics hub in Baltimore County, announced it was partnering with a global shipping company to resurrect the site. They’re planning a project that would create 1,100 jobs and increase the container capacity at the Port of Baltimore by 70%. Now they need to figure out where to put all that dirt in an environmentally responsible way.

“The plan is to dredge a channel on the east side of Coke Point deep enough for container ships to dock at a 3,000-foot-long wharf and unload cargo using cranes. It’s called the Sparrows Point Container Terminal. Building it would create up to 4.5 million cubic yards of dredged material, which is enough to fill more than 40 million garden wheelbarrows. …

“In 2022 the global firm Mediterranean Shipping Company approached Tradepoint Atlantic about building a container terminal, Tomarchio said, which is relatively rare proposition in today’s maritime industry. When the South Carolina Port Authority opened a new container terminal in 2021, the publication The Maritime Executive said it was the first such project in America in more than a decade. Tradepoint Atlantic is partnering with a subsidiary of the shipping giant called Terminal Investment Limited to build and operate the proposed project on Sparrows Point.

“The plan is to put the dredged material on the west side of Coke Point, creating about 100 acres of new land. Peter Haid, a vice president at Tradepoint Atlantic, said there are environmental considerations at play. The Maryland Port Administration previously studied Coke Point and the surrounding water, Haid said, finding that sediments to the west of the peninsula were ‘heavily contaminated’ with arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, nickel, zinc, chromium and more. Putting dredged material on top of this area would create a cap on those contaminants and help prevent their spread, he said. …

“According to Tomarchio, this project is viable largely because of a planned upgrade to the Howard Street Tunnel, a 1.7-mile tunnel running under Baltimore built in 1895, Tomarchio said. …

“Much of that cargo could someday arrive through the Sparrows Point Container Terminal, which is expected to increase the total capacity of the Port of Baltimore by 70%, Tomarchio said.

“That’s a huge deal, explained Richard Scher, spokesman for the Port of Baltimore.

“The work they are doing at Sparrows Point is transformational and incredible,’ Scher said about Tradepoint Atlantic in a statement. ‘They are making significant economic development impacts that will reverberate for years to come.’”