Port of Oswego Authority to use nearly $18 million for repairs to Oswego Harbor

OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Port of Oswego Authority will use nearly $18 million in federal funding for repairs to Oswego Harbor.

The authority will use the funding to make repairs to ensure businesses can continue to use the Oswego Harbor for shipping, the office of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) announced on Friday. The funding will also “allow for the protection of Oswego Harbor.”

The $17.9 million in federal funding is part of the recently passed $1.7 trillion federal-budget package for fiscal year 2023.

“This is vital to the port’s expanding business, local farmers and the many [businesses] that depend on the port,” William Scriber, executive director and CEO of the Port of Oswego Authority, said. “As we close out a record setting year in 2022 with the most tonnage in over two decades, this project is an investment in continued business and job growth in Central New York.”

Schumer explained that Oswego Harbor is the only commercial harbor in New York state on Lake Ontario. It has four operating businesses that use the harbor in addition to two marinas that are integral to Central New York’s agriculture and manufacturing sectors.

Waterborne transportation that the harbor facilitates supports $24.4 million in business revenue; 119 direct, indirect, and induced jobs; and $8 million in labor income for the transportation sector.

The nearly $18 million that Schumer secured will help pay for the completion of Oswego Harbor’s west break wall repair. “Significant” repairs are needed on deteriorated sections of the west break wall, Schumer’s office noted. The west arrowhead breakwater protects the harbor’s primary channel, which allows for safe navigation between Oswego Harbor and Lake Ontario.