FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | December 4, 2025
Contact: Sarah Fulton (302) 401-1114
DOVER — Senate President Pro Tempore Dave Sokola, a former member of the Diamond State Port Corporation Board, and Sen. Darius Brown, current Port Corporation Board member and Co-Chair of the General Assembly’s Port of Wilmington Expansion Task Force, have issued the following statement regarding today’s release by Auditor Lydia York of a Performance Audit of Port operations:
“By Auditor York’s own admission, the impetus for her office’s audit of the Diamond State Port Corporation was a 2025 internal transfer of nearly $200 million in funds earmarked for Port expansion — a transfer Governor Meyer publicly objected to during his first days in office because it was executed by his predecessor and gave the Legislature more agency over Port operations.
Today’s announcement confirms that transfer was fully lawful and affirms the Legislature has an important role — alongside the Governor — to ensure the Edgemoor Port project can fulfill its promise as the most transformational economic development project in the history of our State.
The Delaware State Senate, including those of us who have worked closely with the Port Board over the years, know how critical transparency is to our State and to this project. It’s why we worked with the State Auditor to support added funding to the operations of her office and led the fight to create a Legislative Port of Wilmington Expansion Task Force, and why we take seriously the findings Auditor York announced today — though many are procedural and historic in nature, and no longer apply to the Board’s operations.
For example, the findings related to Gulftainer’s failure to make timely payments to the State and their contribution to environmental degradation of the site are precisely why they are no longer involved in management of the Port.
We look forward to continuing to chart a new course with Enstructure and the current Port leadership. We are confident our steadfast commitment to this project will soon lead to shovels in the ground on a modern, state-of-the-art container ship port that will create thousands of high-paying jobs and transform our State’s economy.”
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