South Carolina not in favor of Savannah Harbor
President Barack Obama delivered this month good news for the Port of Charleston, but it wasn’t enough to soften South Carolina leaders’ stance against the Savannah harbor
deepening.
The White House named both Charleston and Savannah harbor deepening projects among five to be completed ahead of schedule. The initiative aims for the federal review process and Record of Decision to deepen the Savannah River from 42 feet to 47 to be done by this November. It also calls for the federal reviews for the Port of Charleston’s plans to deepen from 45 feet to at least 50 feet to be done by September 2015.
But a top critic of Georgia’s harbor expansion was unmoved.
“There are serious concerns with what the Savannah port wants to do on the South Carolina side,” said Leon Stavrinakis, a Charleston Democrat serving in the S.C. House.
Among those concerns: That cadium-tainted dredge spoils will contaminate Jasper County shores, that the dissolved-oxygen injection system won’t keep fish alive, and that saltwater will contaminate fresh water.
“And those are not abated by the fact that the Port of Charleston, which is a much easier and more sensible project for the government to undertake, is going to move forward in an expedited way,” said Stavrinakis.
With the expanded Panama Canal to be completed in 2014, ports are racing to prepare for larger container vessels. A rivalry between ports is nothing new.
What’s special between South Carolina and Georgia’s relationship is that they share a river that opens onto the ocean. That brings unique regulatory interactions, debates over water rights and legal tangles. What Georgia does to the river affects South Carolina’s coastal communities, and vice versa.
“Our goal is not to beat up on Savannah,” added Stavrinakis. “But we’re not going to promote Savannah at the expense of South Carolina, in terms of business or environment. To the degree we need to fight for both the South Carolina environment and South Carolina business community, we’re going to do that, whether our governor wants to join or not.”
Does South Carolina risk hurting itself by opposing Georgia’s harbor deepening project, considering that Obama has named it a piece of his infrastructure agenda?
It’s unlikely, said Leslie Blakey, president and executive director of the Coalition for America‘s Gateways and Trade Corridors, a Washington-based nonprofit trade association.
“There’s no sense in Washington or among federal agencies of, ‘We’re going to punish them for this.’ I don’t think that is a hazard,” she said.
As for funding, the S.C. Legislature included $300 million in the state budget to cover the entire estimated construction cost of Charleston’s deepening.
The American Association of Port Authorities declined to weigh in; as did the White House press staff, when asked if South Carolina’s objections to one of its five nationally significant ports were cause for concern.
http://savannahnow.com/bluffton-news/2012-07-29/sc-keeps-criticism-savannah-harbor
