news & opinion
harbor deepening | continued from page 17
NOV 16-22, 2011 | WWW.CONNECTSAVANNAH.COM
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to the proposed Jasper terminal site.” After the S.C. DHEC board endorsed the dredging project, Grooms could best be described as livid, telling reporters that South Carolina’s environmental protection agency had “sold the state out today.” Grooms said he’ll push the quasi– governmental Savannah River Maritime Commission, which represents South Carolina interests, to challenge the permit at its December meeting (as we noted, that group has already announced its intention to do so). He said he will also request that the S.C. Department of Natural Resources challenge DHEC’s decision, describing it as a byproduct of
“political influence.” (That has also just recently taken place.) “They called it a reasonable compromise,” Grooms said. “Either the science works or it doesn’t. You don’t compromise on it.” But the Corps counters such criticism by saying it can’t evaluate projects that don’t exist. If a port is built in Jasper County in the future, the Corps insists it will benefit greatly from the deepening. “The currently proposed site has an elevation too low for a port,” the Corps says on its website. “Filling the site with dredged material from the deepening would preclude the need
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to bring in fill material to the site from a much further distance.” “In addition, a deepening to the Garden City port would place a deeper channel directly adjacent to the proposed Jasper port,” it says. The Corps estimates that the savings on the fill alone could trim as much as $200 million off the cost of a Jasper County facility.
‘Georgia is our neighbor’
Since S.C. DHEC notified the Corps of its decision, much of what has transpired related to the dredging project has been behind the scenes. One of the few things to come to light in advance of the Nov. 10 hearing in Columbia, S.C., is that Purdue’s and Sanford’s successors, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, met for lunch in early October to “discuss their differences.” The lunch at the South Carolina statehouse was made public by a report in the Atlanta Journal Constitution and inspired presumptions that a port deal might be in the works. While that article and Georgia officials characterized the meeting in a positive light, South Carolina officials were more demure. “Georgia is our neighbor, and for that reason, Governor Haley and Governor Deal have a lot to talk about, including port issues,” said Haley spokesman Rob Godfrey. The Corps declined to “speculate on the media report.” “Congress provides funding to the Corps to study potential harbor improvements around the country. These studies provide Congress with information to decide which projects are justified and would best benefit the nation,” McDonald said, adding that the Savannah Harbor dredging project will only proceed after four other federal agencies approve it. By law, before the dredging begins, the Corps must secure approval of four other federal agencies, the Department of Commerce (through NOAA Fisheries Service), the Department of the Interior (through U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), and the Environmental Protection Agency. The law is a provision of the Water Resource Development Act of 1999, requiring that the four federal agencies must approach both the project and the associated mitigation plan. “This is a unique provision for a civil works project that Congress
has required to ensure the project adequately mitigates for effects to the environment,” McDonald said. Last week a vital cog in the deepening machine fell into place, as the Corps got a concurrence from the National Marine Fisheries Service, the final holdout among the agencies.
Is it really warranted?
Despite that, opponents of the project continue to push for a new analysis to ensure what they described in a joint statement as “the best, smartest investment of federal taxpayer money and to minimize damage to natural resources and unnecessary spending. ” “To prevent further waste of time and resources, the Corps should do a competitive comparison of the Southeast Atlantic ports to identify the port that would give taxpayers the best return on investment with the least amount of risk and damage,” said Bill Sapp, senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. “In any case, until a regional port analysis is done, there is no way of knowing how to optimize the use of taxpayer money,” Sapp said. For his part Murphy believes looking at the economics from a regional, rather than Savannah or Georgia standpoint, could make all difference. “I mean, I think we really need to look at whether this project really needs to be done here, whether, when you look at it from a more regional perspective, it’s really warranted at all,” he said. “A new analysis from a regional perspective will allow us to see what the true navigation and economic needs are and will give us time to determine whether there is a less environmentally destructive way to meet those needs,” Murphy said. Now that S.C. DHEC and the Corps have met for the reconsideration hearing, the state agency’s board will have 30 days to issue a final decision. In the meantime, the Corps will continue to move forward with the project, McDonald said. And what of the ensuing lawsuits that might slow that progress down? “We can’t speculate on court challenges or proceedings,” McDonald said. cs To comment email us at letters@connectsavannah.com. Dan McCue is an independent journalist living in Charleston, S.C.