Ellington

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi leaders are questioning whether the Port of Gulfport is doing enough to capitalize on the $570 million in federal money being spent there in the aftermath of 2005's Hurricane Katrina.

Port officials told a community group Tuesday that the port is not close to deepening its 36-foot ship channel, one of the shallowest among Gulf of Mexico harbors.

Many leaders seemed surprised by the statement. Both Gov. Phil Bryant and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves tell The Associated Press they want more information on port plans.

In Katrina's aftermath, then-Gov. Haley Barbour often pitched a "port of the future" which could include a 50-foot-deep shipping channel to lure mammoth ships sailing through an expanded Panama Canal. But money to improve the port does not include dredging a deeper channel.