That’s right … gold mines. At least that’s what we’re hearing. Let’s take a look at some of these flourishing quarries. See what we can dig up.

1. Boston’s Conley Terminal. Hardly worth the time. Last year’s increase raised the volume of TEUs from 175,444 to 188,869. More than 100 acres of valuable waterfront in that tiny metropolis are being consumed to handle what we could deal with on about 15 acres. Nevertheless, a $ 25 million “capacity enhancement program” has just been completed and authorities have just announced plans to develop an additional 30 acres nearby. A proposed four-year $ 100 million dredging project is also in the works. Environmentalists and fisherman will be given the opportunity to protest, but the taxpayers, as usual, will be ignored. [Mr. Arena zeroed in on Boston’s ‘gold mine’ a few years ago. Remember?]

2. NY/NJ. If you can make any sense out of the tug-o’-wars going on up in this complexity, please forward your findings to us. We’ll give your thoughts our undivided attention. The New Jersey and Pennsylvania governors, in a side show, are in a disagreement over whether or not dredging should be carried out in the Delaware River. New Jersey prefers smaller ports, smaller ships and no expensive dredging, while dredging adherents in Pennsylvania feel that “bigger is better”. They’ll learn. [Dredging and gold mining have something in common … digging. Right?]

3. Virginia Port Authority. The new Craney Island project will cost an estimated $ 1.76 billion, and Governor Kaine has put a price tag on his own plans to upgrade the state’s transportation infrastructure … an “annual sustainable funding for transportation projects” is how they refer to his $ 900 million set aside. “As our port grows, it will be necessary for the roads and the transportation infrastructure to grow along with it,” said J. Robert Bray, executive director of the port authority. “The governor’s plan will do that,” he said. It had better do it because the port won’t be able to. Mr. Bray just announced that the port expects to meet its target of 2.15 million TEUs this year, and that it will be a record-setting volume. But no amount of containers handled in Virginia’s conventional-structured terminals will ever be able to make up for the billion dollars the taxpayers are being asked to put up every year to grease the skids of these container terminals … unless there’s pure gold in those boxes.

4. North Carolina State Ports Authority. Big plans afoot. Officials intend to handle 2 million TEUs annually at a proposed new terminal on 600 acres in Brunswick County, but to make this happen a major investment of taxpayer’s money will be required, and the project will have to survive public debate and political review. Planning and construction for this 2 million TEU facility is expected to cost about $ 1 billion and take about 10 years time, and considering the fact that the ports in Wilmington and in Morehead City have just combined for a record profit of just under $ 12 million on an annual volume of close to 1.5 million TEUs, the voters just might not be too enthused about that kind of math .. unless, of course, there’s gold in those boxes.

5. Port of Charleston, SC. 1.98 million TEUs together with tonnage handled at Georgetown and Port Royal boosted operating revenues to $ 154 million. That’s a coincidence, because the Port Authority just approved a two-year, $ 154 million capital spending plan as part of its 2007 budget. If that $ 154 million in operating revenues is being earmarked for the $ 154 million capital spending plan, where are they getting the funds for the construction of the harbor’s new bridge … the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America? And if that doesn’t bother the taxpayers, along with its announced intention to build a new 280-acre terminal on the former Charleston Naval Complex, the port authority is engaged in a dogfight with the Georgia Department of Transportation over the rights to build a new terminal on 1,887 acres on the Savannah River. All these bills are being covered by the profit from 1.98 million TEUs? We need to see what’s inside those boxes.

6. Port of Savannah, GA. The Georgia Ports Authority revealed a few weeks ago that its 10-year development plan calls for investing more than $ 700 million in the Port of Savannah, and just last week we learned that the port exceeded the 2 million TEU mark for the first time. Here again, how do the profits from a mere 2 million TEUs pay the bills being incurred? The GPA, by the way, is the other dog in the fight over that 1,887 acres mentioned above. Whichever authority prevails, no amount of TEUs in a conventionally-structured container terminal could ever generate enough money to pay back the amount of taxpayer funding needed for this new project. The annual revenues and profits generated by that new container terminal, no matter who the operator is, will be nowhere near the amounts needed to pay the freight, so to speak. Unless …

7. Port of Miami, FL. Dodge Island, has been desecrated by the placement and unseemly growth of a container terminal. But it doesn’t end there. The port’s Interim Director William Johnson was recently quoted as saying, “We need to spend several million dollars over the next five years to remain competitive and grow our business”. $ 350 million was the figure he quoted, but the annual cargo volume is barely 1.1 million TEUs annually. Same problem. The port co-hosted an open forum in May to consider remedies for congestion at the port. Drivers complain about the chronic delays getting in and out of the port, as well as the time lost within the port, but instead of putting a cap on things, a tunnel they’re calling the “$ 1 billion-plus project” linking the port to the mainland is being considered. But that’s how they referred to the “Big Dig” in Boston to get it approved. And you know the rest of the story. Fugeddaboudit. Unless, of course, they know something about gold mines …

8. Port of Tampa, FL. This is where terminal expansion should take place in Florida. As opposed to the Port of Miami, the Port of Tampa has acreage to spare, and is attempting to attract container cargo. Richard Wainio, the port’s executive director, has stated that making use of his port’s strategic location would reduce the cost of those cargos offloaded in Miami and hauled overland to central Florida and the West Coast. Tampa has at least five times as much acreage as the Port of Miami, and with so much space available, a solution to the congestion that plagues Miami should be obvious and desirable. It makes no sense to burden one port and starve the other, especially when delivery costs from Miami to the Tampa area are known to be excessive. Miami’s hoarding something, by the looks of things …