RICHMOND
Bankers drop plan for port on wetlands
By Carolyn Jones
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Investors have backed out of a plan to build a controversial container port on secluded wetlands along Richmond's northern shore.Bankers from JP Morgan told the city this week that they are no longer interested in investing in a new container port because of the high cost of buying the land from Chevron and upgrading the city's infrastructure, said City Manager Bill Lindsay.
Environmental groups and some city leaders decried the plan as an ecological disaster that would have destroyed a 250-acre marsh and brought more pollution to an area already plagued with high levels of toxic waste.
City staff will now look at expanding the existing port, though not into the wetland, Lindsay said. JP Morgan is still considering putting money into the existing port, which handles mostly liquid cargo and automobiles.
JP Morgan representatives could not be reached for comment Monday.
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