Port challenge misses the mark

Rare is the issue that attracts a clear consensus of opinion. At its meeting Tuesday night, the Mat-Su Borough Assembly, in conjunction with the Alaska Railroad Corp., decided to formally file for intervention in a legal challenge to the planned rail extension from the main line in Houston to tidewater at Port MacKenzie.

The challenge comes from three environmental groups, which are essentially appealing the approval of the rail extension plan by the federal Surface Transportation Board. While we appreciate the vigilance and good intentions of The Sierra Club, Cook Inletkeeper and Alaska Survival, this latest attempt to halt a valuable and responsible economic development project is simply misguided and shortsighted.

The Surface Transportation Board spent three years studying the proposed rail project and its potential environmental impacts before giving its stamp of approval in a 650-page environmental impact statement. Other studies, including economic impact projections, have consistently underscored the value of port development to both the region and state.

Recognizing this, Governor Parnell and the Alaska Legislature have been unambiguous in their support of the project. Along with port facilities in Anchorage and Skagway, Port MacKenzie has been targeted as vital transportation infrastructure in recent capital budgets. The tens of millions of dollars that have already been funneled to the project are an investment in our collective future, since the port will help to diversify the state’s economy and add value to our abundant natural resources.

Indeed, studies by the University of Alaska Anchorage’s Institute of Social and Economic Research forecast job creation resulting from the project in the thousands, between construction of the rail extension and resource development opportunities that the project will enable. New state revenue from these opportunities is expected to be counted in the hundreds of millions. So the importance of the project to the borough and the state cannot be overstated.

For this reason, we applaud the assembly and Borough Mayor Larry DeVilbiss for standing with the Alaska Railroad Corp. in strong opposition to the unnecessary court challenge filed last month with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. It is hard to imagine that the court will not see what state and local business and government leaders, along with an impressive list of organizations from Anchorage to Fairbanks, already know — that the well-studied and much-needed Port MacKenzie rail extension project has transformative economic development potential. Its forward momentum should not be impeded any further.