JACKSONVILLE, Fla — The Jacksonville City Council voted 17-0 Tuesday to provide up to $70 million in cash and a $40 million loan to keep on track with deepening the St. Johns River.
The funding will be provided to JaxPort and the river will be deepened for bigger ships going to the Blount Island terminal on Asian trade lanes, according to Florida Times-Union reporter David Bauerlein.
Back in late-May, a federal judge ruled against the St. Johns Riverkeeper’s attempt to halt deepening of the river, saying the non-profit did not meet the high burden of showing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers failed to assess the environmental impacts of dredging the river for bigger cargo container ships.
St. Johns Riverkeeper filed the lawsuit in April 2017 and expanded the legal challenge after Hurricane Irma caused massive flooding in September 2017.
The group argues deepening the river would result in even worse flooding.