Jasper County attorneys have asked the state Supreme Court to require the S.C. State Ports Authority to show facts why the county cannot develop and own a shipping terminal on the Savannah River.

The SPA has asked the Supreme Court to block Jasper County's effort to condemn 1,860 acres of land the state of Georgia owns south of Hardeeville to build a container cargo terminal on the Savannah River. The state agency has said the Legislature has given it exclusive rights to develop and own ports in South Carolina.

Jasper County attorneys said in a motion filed recently with the Supreme Court that cities and counties have the state-backed authority to build public developments, including shipping terminals.

"There is simply nothing in (state law) giving the SPA the exclusive authority to own and operate (shipping) terminals in South Carolina," wrote attorneys with the Columbia law firm Lewis, Babcock and Hawkins.

"There are other factual disputes between (the SPA and Jasper County) including whether the SPA can demonstrate a likelihood of condemning or developing the property and whether the SPA seeks to condemn the land for the improper purpose of blocking Jasper County's proposed public use terminal," the lawyers argue.

The Charleston-based SPA has indicated it intends to buy or condemn the proposed site, but the agency has declined to give Jasper County leaders or state legislators a timetable when it would develop a shipping terminal there.

Jasper County has tried for more than six years to develop an estimated $450 million marine terminal on the land Georgia uses for dumping Savannah Harbor channel dredge materials.

County officials say that until recently, they've never been able to interest the state in the development idea they contend will bring millions of dollars in private investment and hundreds of jobs. The state's interest came, county officials say, when they recently formed a county port authority board and reinstituted condemnation efforts against Georgia.

Meanwhile, Sen. Scott Richardson, R-Hilton Head Island, on Thursday filed his long-promised resolution requesting that the SPA "cooperate with the Georgia Ports Authority by sharing, to the maximum possible extent, information bilaterally regarding proposed port operations on both the north and south sides of the Savannah River."

The resolution, which seeks concurrence by the state House, also asks the SPA to "study with the Georgia Ports Authority the advantages and disadvantages of coordinating port activities along the Savannah River."

Richardson said Thursday he wants the two states' port authorities to get together "because at the end of the day, they've got to deal with this. I thought forming a legislative committee would obfuscate the issue. And we don't want the ports authority to delay this.

"The point is getting the SPA to deal with the issue" of a Jasper County shipping terminal, he said.

The resolution was referred to the Senate's Transportation Committee. Transportation Committee members include Richardson, Clementa Pinckney of Ridgeland, Yancey McGill, John Land and Hugh Leatherman.

Richardson, Pinckney, McGill and Land are members of a Senate Finance Committee subcommittee recently formed to consider state ports matters. Leatherman is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

The Georgia Senate on Tuesday approved a similar resolution calling for a South Carolina-Georgia committee to study development of a Jasper County shipping terminal.

Reporter Mark Kreuzwieser may be reached at 837-5255 or mark.kreuzwieser@lowcountrynow.com