Port of Savannah Sets New Record, Yet Officials Question Expansion

The Port of Savannah boasts that its throughput topped 2.9 million containers in the last fiscal year. This is eleven percent more than last year said Curtis Foltz, Executive Director of the Georgia Ports Authority, to the Associated Press.

The reason for this increase is obviously more imports and exports. The exports are going to China, India and Russia, while the imports are going to Wal-Mart.

Foltz said he does not believe 2012 will be another banner year due to the impact of unemployment and the housing slump on the global economy. The full details of this report can be found on Forbes.com/.

At the same time, South Carolina and Georgia port officials agreed to further study a potential Jasper Ocean Terminal that shares the Savannah River. Apparently, the officials are “unsure whether [a Jasper Port] would benefit or suffer from plans to deepen the harbor to the nearby Port of Savannah,” according to a report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

I suppose a question they are pondering is “If the Port of Savannah would benefit from a deeper river, would a Port of Jasper benefit?” That question seems to be a no-brainer because it was already answered in 2010.

A more important question is, “Where do we put the muck from the bottom of the river as we deepen it?” Georgia said, “Simple, we’ll put it where the Jasper Ocean Terminal will go to build up the area above sea level. And we’ll continue to put all of it there for the next 50 years.”

To which South Carolina said, “You want to put 22 miles worth of dredge in Jasper County for 50 years when the Jasper Port requires only 8 miles of dredging for a limited period of time? Yeah, right.”

It seems like South Carolina should just get over it (or under it, as the case may be) so we can move this project along. But the economic and environmental impacts of digging and placing the soil will affect both states for 50 years. These concerns are weightier than the dirt itself. So the issue will be studied more. And rightfully so.

A. Joseph Marshall
Commercial Real Estate Agent
Savannah, Ga.