Gov. Nathan Deal and his South Carolina counterpart, Nikki Haley, appear to have calmed an interstate rivalry over dredging the Port of Savannah, with considerable jobs and money on the line for both states.
South Carolina's environmental agency last month denied an Army Corps of Engineers permit application for the dredging project, intended to help the port attract vessels coming through the newly expanded Panama Canal by 2015 and double the port's traffic by 2020. That is considered such a boon to the entire state's economy that Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has taken a lead role in lobbying for the project.
South Carolina claimed the dredging would harm downstream fish and marshland. Georgia officials cried foul, saying its neighbor had political, not environmental, motives. Charleston's port traffic trails Savannah, and the disparity likely would widen if Savannah is dredged first.
Over lunch at the Columbia, S.C., state house Oct. 4, the two governors discussed the port, and Haley has since softened her public stance on the issue. Georgia leaders have backed dredging the Charleston port to the 48 feet needed to attract the Panama Canal ships, as well.
"I’m looking forward to a great cooperative effort with Governor Haley," Deal said Thursday. "I think we do have opportunities for us at the Savannah port and for them at the Charleston port. I don’t think they’re inconsistent projects. In fact I think they’re very compatible projects. I was encouraged by our meetings.”
According to WJCL/FOX28 Savannah, Haley sounded a conciliatory tone in a speech to the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce this week. "Every port is different and every port has its challenges," Haley said. "We have to say, ‘What do we need to do that is right for the region? What do we need to do so that all are successful?' There's ways to do that."
Compare that with her words to a Charleston port gathering late last year: “Georgia has had their way with us for way too long, and I don’t have the patience to let it happen anymore.”
On Thursday Haley spokesman Rob Godfrey said, "Georgia is our neighbor, and for that reason, Governor Haley and Governor Deal have a lot to talk about – including ports issues. What’s good for the Southeast is good for both of our states.”
The fastest-growing container port in the country, Savannah and the commodity port in Brunswick provide thousands of jobs, and the Georgia Ports Authority estimates that $8 billion in cargo that passed through the two ports was produced, shipped or received across the 28-county metro Atlanta region last year.
The recent detente on dredging does not mean the two states are marching hand in hand. The Army Corps awaits the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control's reconsideration of its permit requests. And at least one influential state legislator is not ready to let the current plan go through.
South Carolina state Sen. Larry Grooms, the transportation committee chair, wants to make sure the dredging includes accommodations for a future port upriver at Jasper, S.C., and he would work to block the project otherwise.
"If we move forward with that plan, 90 percent of the benefit would be for one state," Grooms said.
Still, port backers see Haley's softened stance as a big step for the project.
"We’re certainly encouraged by the governor’s comments," said Alec Poitevint, chairman of the board for Georgia Ports, who added that the agency has long been in favor of dredging the Charleston port.
Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Savannah, said any port expansion would help the economy on both sides of the river, as many port employees live in South Carolina.
"If you get the governors talking and the senators and people who’ve been involved in it, I think you can find a way to get Jasper, Charleston and Savannah all worked out and people will be happy," he said.
Interstate cooperation aside, the plan to deepen 32 miles of the Savannah River by 6 feet carries a daunting $600 million price tag at a time when state and federal governments are cutting back. The state has stepped forward with $134 million and Deal has formed a bipartisan alliance with Reed, the Democratic mayor, in seeking federal money for the port.
In addition all 13 members of the Georgia U.S. House delegation – which includes some of the most eager budget slashers in Congress – signed a letter to President Barack Obama in August asking him for port dredging money in the 2013 budget. His 2012 budget included $600,000 in planning funds for the project, which Georgia leaders cheered because the it established a budget line item. This Congress has banned earmarks, leaving the administration's budget as the only avenue to get funding.
Rep. David Scott, D-Atlanta, said the support of the entire delegation "speaks well for Georgia." He plans to do a bit of personal lobbying for the ports project this weekend, when he and the president will attend the dedication of the new Martin Luther King Jr. memorial.
"I have been very supportive on some of the things he has done," Scott said. "And I'm sure it wont hurt to remind him of that."
Contributing: Dan Chapman
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