Delaware’s two Port of Wilmington expansion project oversight bodies met back-to-back on Monday, but Gov. Matt Meyer’s administration only attended one of the meetings
In April, the General Assembly revived a task force from 2015 to provide additional oversight to the new Edgemoor Container Terminal project, which has been a point of contention between the Meyer administration and the state legislature.
Following the General Assembly's approval of the task force's creation on April 15, the governor's Deputy Chief of Staff Nick Merlino said in a statement: "Under Delaware law, there's only one port board. We’ve talked about getting this expansion done for over 10 years now. Adding yet another task force is not how we efficiently expand the port or manage taxpayer money. The Governor, as he said last week during his State of the State address, is committed to getting this done."
The Port of Wilmington Expansion Task Force held its first meeting on April 30 and noticeably lacked all five of Meyer’s cabinet secretaries appointed to the body.
At that meeting, Co-Chair and State Sen. Darius Brown (D-New Castle) made some publicly disparaging remarks about Gov. Meyer and accused him of working with businesses who are against the Port expansion project.
The task force met again Monday afternoon, and Gov. Meyer’s Director of Policy and Federal Affairs Liaison John Kane joined to say the governor’s team would not be presenting at the task force meeting.
“The governor has asked me to attend the meeting to share that there will be an update on the federal permitting process this afternoon at the Corporation Board meeting, and he's encouraging everybody from this task force to attend this meeting, which will be right after this," Kane said.
Kane also said that if the task force members had any questions, they should submit those questions to the governor in writing.
"We'll have to have a conversation with the governor," Sen. Brown said following Kane's remarks. "I know John has the experience and knowledge around the issue, but I'm going to respect that he his fulfilling the wishes of the administrative office that he works for."
Sen. Brown reiterated that the task force would continue its work, despite the current administration's lack of participation.
The only member of Gov. Meyer's cabinet that appeared to join the meeting briefly was Secretary of Labor LaKresha Moultrie.
The Diamond State Port Corporation (DSPC) Board of Directors met one hour following the task force meeting, and Secretary of State Charuni Patibanda-Sanchez reiterated the state is working on obtaining the proper federal permits.
“Although we can't comment publicly right now because this is technically pending litigation, we are working very closely with our legal teams to resolve the concerns raised and to have the permits reissued," she said.
The $635 million Edgemoor Container Terminal is currently in a preliminary design phase, but project leaders plan to break ground in May 2026 with final completion by December 2028.
Local International Longshoreman’s Association (ILA) President William Ashe, who was nominated to the DSPC Board by former Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long before Gov. Meyer reversed his nomination, raised concerns around the governor's intention to fully automate the port during public comment.
"I wish the governor or someone could talk to him about a fully automated terminal because U.S. Emex, which is the carriers on the East Coast and the Gulf, already signed an agreement with the ILA that there would be no fully automated terminals on the East Coast. So we want a brand new terminal and we need a brand new terminal, but we don't need it fully automated because that eliminates jobs," Ashe said.
Ashe is an appointed member of the Port of Wilmington Expansion Task Force.
Both bodies are set to meet monthly for the foreseeable future.
