Maybe. It would very intersting to see the actual contrats between P&O and the various port authorities. And it would be highly ironic if the local level reversed the federal rubber stamp. Local authorities do, after all, have a slightly more acute and personal interest.
In the case of New York and New Jersey (the area I am most familiar with), the port authority operates as something of a quasi-public agency. In some ways it functions like a private company (it is expected to operate without any government funding, for example, and to generate a certain rate of return from its various business units), while it does operate under a certain amount of government oversight (the directors are appointed by the governors of New York and New Jersey).
My experience is that these agencies have much more leeway than a government does when it comes to many issues like this.