Given the legal difficulties Jasper County has encountered in advancing a port along the Savannah River, county officials should welcome the involvement of the State Ports Authority. As the state agency designated to build and operate ports in South Carolina, the SPA is in a stronger position to push the Jasper project ahead.

In remarks to a Senate committee last week, SPA chief executive Bernard S. Groseclose estimated that the agency can reasonably expect to get construction on the port under way in three years. The SPA's commitment to the project should not be a matter for consternation among legislators.

While Jasper County officials have been working with of a private company on a port development plan, the legal impediments do not encourage the likelihood of a quick resolution. The state Supreme Court ruled last year that Jasper County can't condemn the property designated for the facility on behalf of a private investor. We've seen nothing to date that says the county has found a way to overcome that legal hurdle.

The SPA, a state agency, doesn't face that legal problem and the state of Georgia, which owns the property in question, is likely to recognize that fact and work with the agency. That might encourage a regional approach to port development that could benefit both states.

The SPA expects the port to be developed with the help of private investment, as Jasper County has planned. But the SPA would be in a far stronger position to ensure accountability for port construction and management. It is the agency designated by law to oversee port operations in South Carolina.

That long-established role is a primary reason that the SPA's decision to pursue a Jasper County port should be encouraged. With 11 berths anticipated, the Jasper County port will provide for the continued expansion of port operations for South Carolina, along with a three-berth facility at the former Charleston Navy Base.

The construction of a port in Jasper County will be a boon to a region that needs jobs and investment, and the commitment of the SPA moves the project closer to fruition.