CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A $20 million study of deepening the Charleston Harbor shipping channel will continue now that the work has been included on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' work plan and $2.5 million in federal money made available.
"This is the most significant federal contribution made thus far to the Charleston Harbor deepening effort," U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a statement, noting the money is important because the Charleston project was not included in President Obama's 2012 budget.
Late last year, Graham announced that, with federal earmarks a thing of the past, lawmakers had created a new $460 million account in a federal appropriations bill. The new account created with bipartisan support allows ports not included in the budget to get money based on merit.
"We have always known that Charleston will fare well under that standard as harbor deepening is a worthwhile investment," Graham said.
Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr., a Democrat, said he had discussed funding for the study with Obama and he and State Ports Authority President and CEO Jim Newsome met with officials of the Office of Management and Budget.
"I am thankful and pleased that they heard our message about the importance of the Port of Charleston to our region's economy," Riley said.
The corps is conducting the $20 million study as a prelude to a $300 million deepening of the harbor shipping channel to handle the larger container ships that will be calling when the Panama Canal is widened in 2014.
The $2.5 million in federal money is being matched by the South Carolina State Ports Authority.
"This is wonderful news for the 260,000 South Carolinians whose jobs depend on the competiveness of our port," said authority chairman Bill Stern.
The Corps of Engineers is taking public comment through Friday on what should be looked at during the deepening study.
The Charleston deepening project's expected to be completed by 2024, which is not soon enough, authority CEO Jim Newsome told legislators in Columbia on Wednesday.
"We can't live with that. We've made it very clear. We need to finish this by 2020," he said. "We have a very merit-based harbor deepening. We will be at the end of the day the only truly post-Panama harbor in the southeastern United States that can handle ships without tidal restriction."
He said the authority and corps are working to shorten every step of the process. For example, he said, the study should take less time than predicted since the needed depth is not a question.
By 2014, there will be 1,200 mega-size ships worldwide bigger than what can currently fit through the Panama Canal. The Charleston port can handle them currently within a two-hour window at high tide, but the deepening will mean ships won't be time-limited, he said, noting two such ships came calling Wednesday.
Georgia also received an additional $2.5 million in federal funding to dredge the Savannah River, toward pre-construction planning. The Savannah port project is on target for completion by 2016.
Newsome took issue with those saying Charleston's behind in the dredging process. While noting South Carolina is in a race to deepen Charleston's harbor, he argued Charleston already has the advantage. It can already accept mega ships that can't go to Savannah, and when both projects are done, Charleston will be four feet deeper in an ocean harbor, as opposed to miles up a river that can handle only one-way traffic, he said.
"We're not behind, but we cannot lose any time," he said.
He said Charleston's deepening project is unaffected by the firestorm over a South Carolina agency's decision to grant a water quality permit for Savannah's dredging project. Gov. Nikki Haley is under criticism for asking her board at the Department of Health and Environmental Control to hear Georgia's appeal after agency staff denied the permit, citing unacceptable harm to the environment.
The House and Senate have unanimously approved a bill retroactively suspending DHEC's authority to grant permits for Savannah River dredging, hoping to boost legal arguments for the Savannah River Maritime Commission, which has sued. Haley has said she will veto that measure.
Legislators contend Savannah's project will harm the environment and kill plans for a port in Jasper County, miles closer to the Atlantic Ocean, that's supposed to be a 50-50 project with Georgia. But Georgia's plans for the Savannah port dredging calls for sludge to be dumped on the Jasper site for decades.
Newsome said Haley and Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal are meeting Friday in Augusta, Ga., to talk about the future of the Jasper port. He and other port officials of both states will also attend, he said.
Rep. Jim Merrill, R-Charleston, asked Newsome to be proactive. He referenced that Haley's request to her board came after she met with Deal.
"The last time these two people got together, it didn't do a heck of a lot for us," Merrill said. "I don't want to try to pick a fight with Georgia, but it seems like every time we tried to work with them, we ended up being on our heel. ... I don't buy the collaborative nature anymore. It is a fight. I hope we'll go in with that mentality."
Newsome responded that the ports authority board made a clear statement in December when it suspended putting any more money toward the Jasper port until key questions are settled.
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