By Matthew French
Staff Writer

The ongoing legal fight between Jasper County, the Georgia Ports Authority and the South Carolina State Ports Authority is likely to drag for at least the foreseeable future, and the potential fallout from any deal could have far-reaching consequences for the Charleston area.

But economic experts say local businesses as well as shipping lines would most likely benefit from an added port downstate.

Port authority officials have filed a lawsuit with the South Carolina Supreme Court seeking a judgment that the SCSPA has the authority to build a port on the South Carolina side of the Savannah River. However, Jasper County is also seeking to build a port on the site, and any port built and operated by the county would be independent of, and possibly in direct competition with, the port of Charleston and the state ports authority. To further complicate the mix, the land in Jasper County has been owned by the state of Georgia for nearly 20 years, having been used as a dumping site for dredged materials taken from the Savannah Harbor.

Al Parish, director of the Center for Economic Forecasting at Charles­ton Southern University, says that one of the South Carolina entities will likely win the battle. The ports authority, he says, is looking at investment in Jasper County as a two-pronged attack.

“There are two different reasons the (Charleston) port is looking to set up the port in Jasper County. One is to keep the port from becoming a private port facility that competes with Charleston’s container business,” he says. “And the other is that, if the ports authority gets it, the Jasper County port will be complimentary to Charleston and competitive with Savannah.”

The ports authority isn’t likely to build a port in a different area of the state that would drag established and contracted business away from its hub, Parish says. So if the SCSPA gets the authority to build a Jasper County port, it would be more likely to go head-to-head with Savannah’s bulk and break bulk shipping business.

Break bulk is considered to be loose cargo, such as cartons, stowed directly in the ship’s hold, as opposed to container shipping, which represents the vast majority of business done through Charleston.

“You would much more likely see Savannah’s cargo tonnage impacted than Charleston’s,” Parish says. “If however Jasper gets control, it will become a private port, and for the ports authority, that is another matter.”

It is incredibly unlikely that any port that does emerge in Jasper County will unseat Charleston as the crown jewel of the state ports system, but Jasper does have the benefit of I-95, the major north-south corridor on the East Coast, carving right through the county. Charleston faces the disadvantage of being the end of the shipping line from the land side. While all roads in South Carolina may lead to the Lowcountry, Charleston represents an in-and-out port of call. Trucks either drop their loads here or pick them up, but they seldom are able to pass through the Lowcountry on their way to another location. Jasper would not be so confined.

“In looking at all of the studies and calculations, it is clear to me that the SCSPA should take whatever actions are necessary to buy the land and then take all the necessary action to make the dream of a port in Jasper a reality,” says Tom Davis, the port authority’s board member from Beaufort. “As we move forward, there will be those who attempt to derail the project or confuse the public by mixing Jasper with port expansion at the Navy base. They are two distinct operations with two distinct markets that require two distinct strategies.”

Harry Butler Jr., chairman of the SCSPA board, says the ports authority is looking to bring “the full faith and resources of the state of South Carolina to bear on this project.

“And we intend to move forward immediately with plans to develop a port facility in Jasper,” he says.

The timing of any port in Jasper County is one of the larger sticking points in the intra-state fight, says Parish.

“Jasper County wants the port, period,” he says. “They would be happy if the SCSPA comes in and does it. But they wouldn’t be happy if the ports authority waits 15 years to come in to do it. For Jasper County, it’s an economic development question. If the state Supreme Court determines the ports authority has the right to do this, there’s not going to be a legal requirement as to when they do something with the land.”

Lawrence Stoney, owner of the Charleston-based Coleman Supply Company, a ship chandlery for more than 100 years, says the port in Jasper is almost a necessity for the state ports authority.

“The port in Jasper County is going to happen,” Stoney says. “It’s been said time and again that Charleston has to expand, or it’s going to shrivel up and die. But this is going to lead to a pitched fight. Whichever entity is decided on to take control, there will be a pitched battle, a real shooting war.”

Stoney agrees with Parish in that a port in Jasper County is a virtual foregone conclusion, with the only remaining question being: who will build it?

“A port down there wouldn’t likely drag any business away from Charleston,” he says. “It would benefit everyone. If people (in the shipping business) know there’s additional capacity here, that will be in the forefront of their minds when they select a port.”

The state ports authority’s woes have been well documented over the past few years. Despite several years of increased growth and tonnage, the ports authority has had a difficult time expanding its facilities, having met with opposition from neighborhood leaders, the Army Corps of Engineers and state politicians. A facility in Jasper could help alleviate some of the strain while simultaneously placing pressure on the nearest competitor: Savannah.

“The proposed port site in Jasper would be only 11 miles from the Savannah site, so this could be a case of building competition directly across the street,” Parish says. “But it could also engender cooperation between the Georgia and South Carolina ports authorities. Optimistically, this is what would happen. With two entities as close as they are, it makes economic sense to cooperate and eliminate duplications of effort.”

Savannah and Charleston each do about $23 billion in business each year. But by comparison, Georgia’s Gross Domestic Product is 2 1/2 times larger than Charleston’s, meaning the business the South Carolina Ports Authority does is 2 1/2 times more important to the state’s economy as a whole.

Matthew French covers imports and exports for the Business Journal. E-mail him at mfrench@crbj.com

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