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Allen Uses an Island to Put Webb on the Spot
Since 1957, when the island's walls were completed, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been pumping dredged materials from the Elizabeth River and other nearby waterways to create the land mass.
The island, which is made up of more than 200 million cubic yards of sand, rocks and silt, has become a favorite spot for recreational fishermen and bird watchers. Hundreds of species of migratory birds nest on the island, including lesser yellowlegs, least terns and black-bellied plovers.
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State officials now hope to cash in on the island's location by building the terminal.
The state's maritime industry, anchored by three shipping terminals -- at Newport News, Norfolk and Portsmouth -- is responsible for 165,000 jobs, said Joe Harris, a spokesman for the Virginia Port Authority.
"I do not think you can find another industry in the state that compares in terms of jobs and money generated from those jobs," Harris said.
With cargo traffic expected to increase, state officials say a new terminal on Craney Island is vital to keeping the port competitive with those in New York, Savannah, Ga., and Charleston, S.C.
Last week, the U.S. Senate authorized a 580-acre expansion of the island, which will cost $671.3 million. As much as $26.2 million in federal funds has to be appropriated for the project. The authorization is the initial step in getting the first phase of the terminal opened by 2017.
"It's going to make us an international port of some significance," said Portsmouth Mayor James W. Holley III, an independent who credits Allen with moving the project along.
Larry J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, called Allen's use of the issue "a clever ruse." But Sabato said he doubts Webb's response cost him any votes, although he said that could change if Allen begins using the issue in campaign commercials.
"The average person will be like, 'Can you believe it, Jim Webb didn't know about Craney Island,' when the truth is they didn't know about it either," Sabato said.
