The county has been working to bring a port to the area for 10 years and has actively partnered with SSA Marine, the world's largest port developer, over the last four years.
Jasper County Administrator Andrew Fulghum was served with the lawsuit, which names Jasper County and the Jasper County Port Authority, hours after the county filed its condemnation paperwork in Ridgeland.
The lawsuit, filed with the S.C. Supreme Court in Columbia, looks for the high court to declare Jasper ineligible to build and operate a port on the Savannah River.
Last week Jasper offered to buy the 1,863 acres from the Georgia Department of Transportation for $8.5 million and threatened to start the condemnation process if the issue wasn't resolved by today's Georgia DOT board of directors meeting.
"We have not had contact with the Georgia DOT, and due to yesterday's State Ports Authority decision, we decided to move forward," Fulghum said.
The S.C. State Ports Authority's board of directors Tuesday voted to file the lawsuit seeking a judgment from the Supreme Court stating that the Ports Authority has "the predominant authority to build and develop seaports" in South Carolina and on the Savannah River and that "Jasper County does not have such authority."
The board also agreed to start its own land acquisition process for the 1,863 acres.
"The fact that the South Carolina Ports Authority is finally beginning to notice the merit of the project is flattering but will not change our course," Fulghum said in a news release.
Georgia DOT officials were discussing the matter Wednesday night.
"We're still working on it. This is the same thing that happened to us last year, but so far, no decisions have been made," said Peter Hortman, spokesman for Harold Linnenkohl, Georgia's transportation commissioner.
In September 2003 the S.C. Supreme Court ruled against Jasper's first stab at condemnation, stating that a commercially owned and operated port would not meet the required public use - a fundamental factor for condemnation.
Earlier this month the Jasper County Council approved an exclusive finance, development and management pact with South Atlantic International Terminal, a subsidiary of SSA Marine.
The Georgia-owned site on the South Carolina side of the Savannah River is used for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredge spoil from Port of Savannah expansions upriver.
Immediately following the Ports Authority's Tuesday meeting, Georgia DOT was notified that the state authority is accessing the site to perform an appraisal, the first step in the condemnation process, according to S.C. Ports spokesman Byron Miller.
"(Jasper officials) have expressed frustration with the State Ports Authority in the past," Tom Davis, a Beaufort County representative to the state Ports Authority board, said Wednesday. "I know how they feel about the Ports Authority, but I ask them to take us on our actions, not our words."
