Two years from now, larger international trade vessels will be headed for our shores via an expanded Panama Canal. America must have an East Coast network of deep water ports ready to maintain our country’s global competitiveness.
Commerce has chosen Georgia’s economically and environmentally efficient port as one of its primary trading centers in the Southeast. Following a decade of due diligence, resulting in a comprehensive environmental mitigation plan, Savannah is the port to deepen now to expand that network. It is precisely the sort of infrastructure project supporting global trade that America needs to bolster our economic recovery.
An expanded port connected by highway and rail — paired with the world’s busiest airport — promises job and revenue growth for Atlanta and the Southeast. The Port of Savannah is still growing, creating jobs and moving three trainloads of goods every day back and forth to and from Atlanta — $8 billion of cargo annually.
Commerce is attracted to Savannah because it is one of the most efficient ports in the world. Our two intermodal rail facilities, for example, allow rapid unloading and reloading — and prevent the need for truck hauling from remote rail yards to the port. We continually improve our facility and the equipment within to increase efficiency, reduce emissions, improve health and safety — and conserve resources by avoiding growing our footprint.
The harbor deepening under the direction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will follow a $40 million study that included engineering, environmental and economic studies, as well as an extensive analysis of the alternatives. The analysis was developed through extensive coordination with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, NOAA Fisheries Service and state agencies in Georgia and South Carolina.
Recommendations from a stakeholder evaluation group including dozens of companies, municipalities, legislators, business and environmental groups have since been implemented or were passed as recommendations to the corps. The study of the Savannah River Estuary — the most comprehensive in history — clearly demonstrates the project can be constructed and impacts will be mitigated.
At an unsettling moment for our country, it is understandably difficult to identify significant initiatives that draw bipartisan interstate support for strategic investments that bolster economic competitiveness and mitigate environmental impact. The deepening of the Port of Savannah is a great example of such an initiative. It is the right project at the right time because of hard work, preparation and investment on the local, state and federal levels over the decade.
In the Southeast, we must prepare our infrastructure now — including Savannah and other key regional ports — to meet the demands of global trade. Our country will gain the greatest benefit from a first step of deepening the Port of Savannah, which can double its capacity on its existing footprint.
It is a South Atlantic hub because of its proximity to Atlanta and its centrality in the Southeast, which mean lower costs to move imports and exports alike. That is why it has been the position of the GPA that both Charleston, S.C., and Savannah need to be deepened to handle future trade to the East Coast. The port’s terminal and connecting roads and rail are in place to handle future expected cargo. Georgia has approved $134 million in state funds, and Gov. Nathan Deal will propose another $46.7 million in the state’s fiscal 2013 budget.
America simply cannot afford to wait to invest in our infrastructure — beginning in our region with the nation’s second-leading export port.
Curtis Foltz is the executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority.
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