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Both groups met recently, and their leaders provided updates in phone interviews last week:
Jasper Ocean Terminal Joint Project Office
The bi-state group of South Carolina and Georgia leaders charged with developing the port hit "a bump in the road" when it learned it will have to help pay for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' examination of how a Jasper port would impact the Corps' regular dredging of the river, chairman William Bethea Jr. said.
The 1,500-acre site for the proposed port sits on land where the Corps disposes of materials it dredges from the river to maintain the shipping channel. To convince the Corps to lift its easement on the property, port backers have presented several alternatives, Bethea said.
Corps officials told Bethea budget constraints will not allow it to pay for an in-depth study of those alternatives that could cost $295,000 during the next year and half, he said.
Bethea expects the office could find money it its 2009-10 budget to help cover the cost, but he added the setback has cost the office three to four months.
"We've got to put our heads together and try to reallocate some resources," Bethea said. "I am confident we'll get this taken care of in the next couple of weeks."
In a second development, the office is continuing to draft a bi-state compact to introduce to the U.S. Congress and the legislatures of both states.
The compact would go beyond the agreement the two states already have to create an agency similar to the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.
"It elevates this effort to a bi-state, fully endorsed effort that is approved by the Congress," Bethea said. "It's a substantially more significant measure."
In a third development, the office released images of what the port might look like. A first phase would include two berths, and another eight berths would come in three subsequent phases.
Savannah River Maritime Commission
The group of state leaders charged with protecting South Carolina's interests in the river wants to hire a consultant to help it examine Georgia's plans to deepen the river. The group recently learned it will have more time for that analysis than it expected.
The Corps had been expected to issue a draft environmental impact statement at year's end.
Dean Moss, the commission's chairman, said he has learned that document won't be available until at least March 1.
That could give the commission more time to decide how it will navigate a politically thorny subject.
The question of dredging is sensitive because some South Carolina lawmakers have expressed concern deepening beyond the proposed Jasper site to the Georgia Ports Authority's Garden City Terminal could eliminate the need for a Jasper port.
Moss wants a consultant to look at the economic and environmental impact of dredging, and he said the commission will not decide the state's stance on the idea before that happens.
"We're not asking the consultant to be an advocate," Moss said. "We're asking him or her or whoever to do a very detailed analysis."
State officials should issue a request for qualifications soon, and Moss expects to have a short list of consultants in mind by its next meeting in December.
Moss estimates the work would cost more than $100,000. He did not know where that money might come from, but he said lawmakers have assured him it will be available.
"We're moving ahead, albeit slowly," he said.
