GARDEN CITY, Ga. -- With the ongoing recession battering the container industry and decreasing traffic at ports around the country, it could be 15 years before demand is strong enough to garner permits for the proposed Jasper Ocean Terminal, engineers studying the feasibility of the project said Friday.
Representatives from the Moffatt and Nichol engineering firm said it also could take that long to complete environmental and economic studies and develop an adaptable, working plan for the 1,518-acre, deep-water container port.
The port would be located on the Jasper County side of the Savannah River and owned and managed jointly by South Carolina and Georgia. To obtain the permits, project officials would have to demonstrate a need for a container port at that location, situated between established shipping terminals in Charleston and Savannah.
Engineers said market studies show 2024 as the year when it would be most economically viable to build. The assessment was part of a report they planned to present to the six-member Jasper Ocean Terminal Joint Project Office board of directors at its Friday meeting.
"When does what we have fall short of what we need?" Bob Bennett, program manager from Moffatt and Nichol, hired by the board in October to conduct preliminary studies, planning and analyses, told reporters. "2024 is when demand will start to show."
State Sen. Tom Davis said he heard the same argument Tuesday in Columbia at a meeting of the Savannah River Maritime Commission.
The Beaufort Republican was a key negotiator in the intergovernmental port agreement signed in November 2007 by South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford and Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue. Davis was Sanford's chief of staff at the time of the agreement, which called for the port to be built as soon as possible.
"2024 is ridiculous. It's not going to be acceptable to the South Carolina State Legislature " said Davis, who did not attend Friday's meeting. "They're taking that position, but how does that square with the fact that the private marketplace is willing right now to lease that Jasper port site and put $1 billion into that terminal today? That is an indicator of market feasibility."
Davis said he thinks neither state's ports authority considers the Jasper site a priority and would rather wait for the established terminals to reach capacity before building it.
"This is turning into a consultant-driven thing as opposed to what Mark Sanford and Sonny Perdue always thought it would be," said Davis. "It needs to be corrected by reminding the two ports authorities that they were charged to make the Jasper port a reality as soon as possible, not when it happens to be convenient for Charleston and Savannah."
Engineers are in the initial research and permit-gathering phase, which will take up to 12 years and involve 300 to 400 acres, Bennett told board members.
Hardeeville Mayor Bronco Bostick said he had hoped to see the port fully constructed within the next 10 years, but was glad to see some progress had been made toward making the site a reality. Jasper County officials have angled since 1990 for the port, which they say would be a powerful economic engine for both states.
"We want jobs right at home," Bostick said. "You can't have a good quality of life without good jobs. Every time we move the ball down the field, you're getting closer to the goal."
Hilton Head Island resident William Bethea Jr., who was voted chair of the Joint Project board Friday, said the timeline for the port could change as work continues, but the focus needs to be on setting a foundation.
"We know we've got certain kinds of fundamental planning to do," said Bethea, who replaced James Balloun of Georgia.
Within the next two years, Moffatt and Nichol will collect and analyze data from environmental impact statements, Bennett said. The firm is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to take over development rights for the site.
The corps owns perpetual easements to the property, which is used by the Savannah District as a dumping ground for the sediment dredged from the Savannah River. Moffatt and Nichol met with representatives from the Savannah district in January to exchange information and start brainstorming ways to satisfy the corps' concerns over how giving up development rights would affect its dredge management plan.
"They've got to be happy before they release those easements," said Bob Engler, a geochemist with Moffatt and Nichol.
Ports authorities from South Carolina and Georgia acquired the land for the Jasper port in July, after it was transferred from the Georgia Department of Transportation at a cost of more than $7.5 million per state.
rss
mobile
