Port Authority OKs reduced spending

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) - The Alabama State Port Authority has approved a $53 million capital spending budget for 2010, sharply reduced from last year, as it tries to build up cash reserves.

The amount is less than a third of what it spent in 2009, and state docks director Jimmy Lyons says that amount could shrink further.

The biggest items on the 2010 budget include $16.3 million for completion of the Pinto Island terminal, nearly $4 million in McDuffie Coal Terminal upgrades and $1.2 million for a container terminal access road.

The $86 million Pinto Island Terminal being built to serve ThyssenKrupp is more than 90 percent complete.