Jefferson County port acquisition could reshape St. Louis economy

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. – There was big news Thursday out of Herculaneum in Jefferson County that could help reshape the St. Louis area economy.

FOX 2 broke the story of a plan to haul shipping containers up and down the Mississippi River back in 2021.

That plan just took a big step forward.

The Jefferson County Port Authority has now gained control of about a mile of the Mississippi riverfront in Herculaneum with the idea that if you have something to sell, something to ship, the port could be your doorway to the world.

“I always say, ‘Stuff generates more stuff,’” Jefferson County Executive Dennis Gannon said. “You may very well have a company come in that says, ‘Hey, we want to locate our business there because you’ve got what we need. We need the U.S. Highway, we need the river, we also need rail.’ That way we can ship anywhere in the world. We’ll make it here and ship it there.’”

“It’s huge,” Jefferson County Port Authority President Derrick Good added.

The port authority has acquired over 18 riverfront acres for $20 million, $18 million of that from state funding. It is an already busy stretch of the river, and with the port now publicly owned, it stands to get a lot busier.

New roads are coming to open up potential development of more than 300 acres at the old Doe Run (EPA superfund) site next door. What happens here is tied in with big happenings near New Orleans.

“It’s a massive step both for regular shipping and the American Patriot Holdings project, which we continue to work with them on,” Good said.

That project is the $500 million development of the Port at Plaquemines, Louisiana. Plans there call for containers from ships coming through the Panama Canal to be off-loaded onto new river-worthy container vessels to go as far north as the port in Herculaneum, with immediate access to rail and interstate highways.

“Right up through the Mississippi River, they can hit railroad tracks; they can hit I-55,” Gannon said.

“I think when dominoes begin to fall, they’re going to fall quickly,” Good said.

He’s hopeful we’ll see shipping container vessels, not just tugs and barges, on the Mississippi by the end of next year.

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