S.C., Georgia may cut port deal

Bill bridges historic differences

RIDGELAND, S.C. - South Carolina legislators are contemplating a deep-water port partnership with Georgia.

Sens. Scott Richardson, R-Hilton Head Island, and Clementa Pinckney, D-Ridgeland, sponsored the bill, which was introduced in the Senate and approved April 1.

The bill was introduced to the South Carolina House on April 2 and sent to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

"We've been working on something like this for a long time, and now we're working with our colleagues in Georgia to get something moving," he said. "If we can come together and stop competing so ferociously, both states and our ports will benefit."

The states have always competed head-to-head on international trade on the deep sea, most notably at the ports of Savannah, Ga., and Charleston, S.C.

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"And, really, all that does is hurt both states and drive down rates for both ports," Mr. Richardson said.

Mr. Pinckney agreed that cooperation would benefit both states.

"The bill will not jeopardize our port proposal in Jasper County," he said. "It is the biggest development that could change the face of Jasper County, and Sen. Richardson has always stood by the Jasper port. This bill would allow more for Georgia and South Carolina to cooperatively compete with other, bigger ports, such as the New York City-New Jersey ports."

Jasper County is working closely with Stevedoring Services of America, a private Seattle-based company, to develop a $450 million deep-water port terminal on a portion of 1,776 acres of land that the county is trying to condemn.

The land, on the Savannah River several miles closer to the Atlantic Ocean than the Georgia Ports Authority's Garden City container cargo terminals, is owned by Georgia's Department of Transportation.

The South Carolina Supreme Court on May 13 is to hear the Georgia DOT's appeal of the condemnation as approved by 14th Circuit Court Judge Perry Buckner last year. The proposal for the Jasper port is still a go, pending the Supreme Court's hearing and decision, said Stevedoring Services of America Regional Vice President Jake Coakley.

"We're as strong (on the project) as garlic gum," he said. "We're ready for the Supreme Court hearing in Columbia, and hopefully it'll go our way and then we'll start work."

--From the Sunday, April 13, 2003 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle