GBCPA Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 31, 2004
CONTACT: Katie Chimenti, 281-326-3343; Nancy Edmonson, 281-471-4567
Texas City a Better Bet Than Bayport
A new container port being developed in Texas City will bring the
Houston-Galveston region the same economic benefits as proposed terminal at
Bayport--or better, according to respected public finance analyst Dr. Barton
Smith.
"New jobs will be created, personal and entrepreneurial incomes will rise,
regional sales will increase, and fiscal dividends will be created to the same
extent as would occur for the Bayport facility," said Smith in a court
affidavit.
He went further, concluding that in boosting the troubled southern sector
of the regional economy, the positive impacts of a container port at Texas
City would outstrip those the Port of Houston Authority claims for Bayport.
"It is likely that the Texas City site would generate somewhat greater
social benefits," Smith said. The Port of Houston Authority was invited to
particpate in Texas City's Shoal Point facility but declined. Shoal Point is
funded by private investors and has provoked no public outcry like the storm
over Bayport.
Smith's observations are in an affidavit submitted as part of a legal
action challenging the Bayport plan. A veteran of 30 years in impact analysis
and author of The Handbook of the Houston Economy, he is a professor of
economics at the University of Houston and director of the Institute for
Region Forecasting.
--more--
Texas City a Better Bet, 2 of 3
The legal action was brought by a coalition of local cities and
environmental groups, including the Galveston Bay Conservation and
Preservation Association (GBCPA). At a February federal court hearing in the
case, the coalition won a temporary injunction preventing the Port of Houston
Authority from starting to build at Bayport. The case is scheduled to be heard
on April 20.
In his affidavit, Smith identified multiple misleading claims and
exaggerations in Port of Houston Authority court documents in support of its
Bayport proposal.
Most notably, demand for containerized facilities is not unlimited. Among
court documents is a report by the Port of Houston Authority's own consultants
Booz-Allen, acknowledging that demand is insufficient for two competing
facilities.
"The supporting material provided by the Port of Houston Authority not
only fails to address key questions regarding Bayport, but actually brings to
light arguments against any rushed development of the Bayport facility," Smith
concluded. "Its construction in tandem with the Texas City development would
create a level of redundancy that would harm both."
A second misleading claim Smith identifies involves the immense number of
jobs projected for Bayport by Port of Houston Authority consultants Ray
Perryman and Associates. "Perryman's estimate that by 2030 the Bayport
facility will create nearly 78,000 new regional jobs has to be reviewed as a
gross exaggeration," said Smith.
He noted out that some 80 percent of port activity relates to
petrochemical cargo, which feeds into manufacturing industry and therefore has
a large "multiplier" or ripple effect in the local economy. In contrast,
containerized cargo is a tiny percentage and mainly involves retail goods,
which do not create comparable ripple effects in manufacturing.
--more--
Texas City a Better Bet, 3 of 3
Third, Smith points out that Port arguments fail to make any case for the
superiority of the Bayport site. "Much of the material presented is merely
general promotional material (that) has no particular relevance to the
creation of a facility at Bayport," he said. Benefits of a container port to
the regional economy are likely to be generated anyway--without a single
shovelful of dirt being turned at Bayport.
"In summary," says Smith, "the arguments presented by the Port of Houston
regarding the social need and urgency of building the Bayport terminal
facilities are seriously flawed."
GBCPA Vice chair Katie Chimenti noted that business leaders depend on economic
forecasters like Barton Smith for projections about the local business
climate.
"When a trusted forecaster like Barton Smith says claims in Port documents
are 'gross exaggeration,' business leaders should be listening," said Chimenti.
"Private investment is already expanding our regional container handling
capacity. Why would a publicly funded entity like the Port of Houston
Authority spend Harris County tax dollars on a competing facility?"
In addition to their federal lawsuit, the coalition of cities and
conservation groups challenging Bayport has also filed suit in state court,
where the case is to be heard on May 6.