New complaint filed this month
But echoes of past legal troubles resurfaced this month as a large Philadelphia port terminal operator filed a new complaint, contesting permits the project needs to continue.
It said that said the United States Army Corps of Engineers should not have reissued permits that allowed for the Port of Wilmington expansion’s development to restart earlier this year. The permits were initially issued in 2022, but got revoked in 2024 based on similar complaints to the July filing.
The Army Corps of Engineers, a federal agency, is in charge of administering permits that Delaware's public-private partnership needs to construct and build the new terminal, a few miles upstream for the Port of Wilmington.
The complaint, filed by Holt-affiliated groups and the Port of Philadelphia’s main container terminal operator, said the Army corps “arbitrarily and capriciously" reissued permits.
U.S. District Judge Mark A. Kearney sided with the argument that the Army Corp's administrative process was flawed in 2024, setting the expansion back by more than a year. The permits were vacated over concerns that the Port of Wilmington expansion's effects on the Delaware River were not fully understood.
The complaint filed this month repeats those concerns. The Philadelphia Port operators' filings argued that the Wilmington port expansion would affect vessels coming to and from the Philadelphia port, 30 miles upstream. And to move forward, more information was needed from Delaware's body in charge of the port expansion's planning.
Delaware’s public private partnership, the Diamond State Port Corporation, updated its application in 2025 and 2026. The Army Corps of engineers reissued the permits in April 2026. And the DSPC Board, picked up with an adjusted timeline and new cost projections this spring.
But the complaint filed this month said that new studies added to the Port of Wilmington expansion's permit applications still lack reliable analysis of the project’s effect on navigation and safety for vessels on the Delaware River.
The Philadelphia Port terminal operators argue in the July document that the DSPC's application updates, only "purported to include" the traffic and navigation studies asked for in Kearney's 2024 revocation.
The complaint added that the DSPC still, "failed to sufficiently address several of the most critical issues" that the court identified in 2024 and concerns highlighted in a 2025 Philadelphia Regional Port Authority letter.
It listed among these, "continued failure to simulate" use of a turning basin in the river. The turning basin is a planned area for dredging, needed for the port expansion so that large container ships can maneuver. But the July complaint said that the basin "would occupy the entirety" of the main navigation channel for vessels next to the new port.
Moreover with the basin, the Philly port operator’s July complaint said the Army Corp of Engineers relied on "ship-traffic simulations supplied by the DSPC" to reapprove the permits rather than independent information gathering.
It said the DSPC's reports didn't include a possible and problematic scenario for a ship using the basin and its effect on ships in the navigation channel but "in close proximity." The claim said safety assurances from the Army Corps count on a set distance between ships in these cases, "which data shows is not always maintained and which the Army Corps acknowledges it cannot enforce."
Another key argument in the complaint said that the permit process should have restarted after the 2024 court decision, rather than allowing DSPC to tack additional information and studies on the its existing application. Requiring DSPC to submit new applications would have initiated a new public review period, "and opportunity to comment on significant changes to the application."
The complaint asked that the court declare the army corps permitting decisions legally invalid. It asked that permits and permissions for the project again be revoked. And it asks that work on the port expansion stop.
Diamond State Port Finance Committee Wednesday update
Despite the legal hurdles, the work on the port is moving ahead for now. The Diamond State Port Corporation Finance Committee met Wednesday to review finances for the port expansion.
The group approved the DSPC's budget for the coming year, with an expectation that its capital spending will increase with the first phase of construction starting this year and going to 2028.
Diamond State Port Corporation Interim Executive Director Brian Devine said that site work is already underway. The window for to proceed with early-stage work, like pre-dredging, opened about a month ago.
"The contractor has been active on these permits in the river," he said.
In a statement this week, DSPC said it is reviewing the complaint filed. Devine said he expects more information during the full DSPC board meeting next week.
He said the DSPC will consult with its legal counsel then on steps forward for the complaint. The board will also review its budget.
At this point, port site prep work has leaned on $50 million in American Rescue Plan dollars, but just over a million of that remains. Once that fund is spent, the Port Corporation will turn to $195 million granted from the state in 2024.
The project is projected to deliver millions of dollars in local tax benefits, and thousands of new jobs tied directly and indirectly to the port.
The full build out of the port expansion is projected to handle 1.2 million shipping containers a year. The first phase of the build will get the port up to less than half of that, to between 400,000 to 500,000 shipping containers.
This story has been updated.
