By Molly Parker
mparker@scbiznews.com
Published July 2, 2009

A leading South Carolina senator on Thursday suggested the state work to ensure that the Georgia Ports Authority’s harbor deepening project fails, throwing a politically explosive comment into the conversation as the neighboring states work to jointly build a terminal in Jasper County.

The Georgia Ports Authority has been working for years to secure a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to deepen the Savannah River another six feet for a 22-plus mile stretch from the ocean to the GPA’s Garden City Terminal in Savannah.

“It seems to me we should get that high-powered consultant to ensure that Georgia doesn’t get that permit,” said Sen. Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, chair of the Senate Finance Committee. Otherwise, Leatherman said, “We can kiss our port goodbye.”

The harbor is currently 42 feet and the GPA seeks to take it to 48 feet. Charleston’s harbor is 45 feet deep, a fact that tops the S.C. State Ports Authority’s sales pitch. The larger ships expected to flow to the East Coast when the Panama Canal expansion is completed in 2014 will need deeper waters.

Leatherman was referring to the Jasper Ocean Terminal that South Carolina and Georgia have agreed to jointly build on the S.C. side of the Savannah River. That project would also require a deepening of the harbor to 48 feet, but only eight miles upstream.

Leatherman made the comment during a legislative oversight committee meeting following a presentation by Dean Moss, head of the S.C. Savannah River Maritime Commission, the state authority created to make binding decisions with regard to the South Carolina side of the Savannah River.

Related stories
Jasper terminal timeline approved in both states
SPA expecting to close FY09 with 19% container volume drop
Georgia Ports Authority’s new budget predicts container growth

Moss requested funds for a consultant to help formulate South Carolina’s position on the GPA deepening project, saying it will require a thoughtful and thorough review of the Corps of Engineers’ environmental impact statement. There are concerns, for instance, that the project could harm the drinking water downstream in places such as Hilton Head, Moss said.

“Throwing hand grenades is probably not going to get us very far,” Moss said.

The meeting was held inside the SPA’s board room. It represented the first time House and Senate lawmakers came together as part of an oversight committee formed by the port governance law passed by the General Assembly in the recently closed session.

During the meeting, lawmakers asked pointed questions of SPA staff and board members about whether Georgia port officials were truly committed to the Jasper Ocean Terminal project, or whether it appeared they would work to stall it over concerns it would compete with container business on their side of the state line.

“I’ve been suspicious of this from the get-go,” said Rep. Jim Merrill, R-Daniel Island.

The SPA’s attorney, Philip Lawrence, said it would be “imprudent to speculate on intentions or good faith. We have to assume good faith.”

The GPA is nowhere near reaching capacity, and is in the midst of expanding its Garden City Terminal.

GPA spokesman Robert Morris said the authority did not wish to comment on Leatherman’s statement. GPA Board Chairman Stephen Green identified the harbor deepening project, expected to cost at least $400 million, as a top priority for the authority after he was nominated for a third term in that role at the board’s monthly meeting on Monday.

Moss said the Corps was expected to issue a draft permit this fall but has pushed the timeline back to January.

“That tells me there’s a problem there somewhere,” Moss said, noting he believes it is “tied to economics.”

Southeastern ports are jockeying for new container business, hoping to become the trade hub for Asian goods flowing to the East Coast through the Panama Canal on ships carrying upwards of 8,000 20-foot long containers, about twice the size of the average containership now calling on the East Coast.

The Jacksonville Port Authority also is seeking a permit from the Corps of Engineers to deepen its harbor from 40 to 50 feet. That project is estimated to cost between $500 million and a billion dollars. The SPA wants to take its harbor from 45 to at least 48 feet. One major concern with all these projects is that federal dredging funds are scarce and highly competitive.

Jacksonville port director Rick Ferrin said that the terminal there recently opened by TraPac and another being planned by Hanjin were both deals predicated on his assurance that the deepening project would happen.

“We will be working — diligently is an understatement — to secure financing for that project,” Ferrin said.

Reach Molly Parker at 843-849-3144.