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Wed., May 15, 2013 4:25pm
A water projects bill approved by the U.S. Senate contains a provision that would remove a bureaucratic obstacle to deepening the Savannah harbor. Georgia Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss both praised passage Wednesday of the new Water Resources Development Act, which still needs approval by the House. The bill would remove a spending cap of $459 million placed on the harbor deepening project in 1999. The Army Corps of Engineers now estimates the project will cost $652 million.
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Wed., June 20, 2012 2:31pm
Conservation groups in two states say the Army Corps of Engineers needs a South Carolina pollution permit now, not later, for the $650 million deepening of the Savannah River shipping channel. Attorneys late Tuesday filed a response to a corps request that a federal judge dismiss their lawsuit against the project.
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Mon., June 4, 2012 4:00pm
Tuesday is the deadline for public comments in a plan to deepen Savannah's harbor from 42 to 47 feet. Supporters and opponents of the project have been picking over the massive proposal and have different conclusions for federal officials who'll make a final yes-or-no decision later this year. The US Army Corps of Engineers spent 14 years studying plans to deepen the Savannah harbor.
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Mon., May 28, 2012 12:00pm
When a public comment period closes June 5th on final plans to deepen Savannah's harbor, expect encouraging words from city officials. The city's water department previously raised concerns over the proposal's potential impact on the city's drinking water supply. But the US Army Corps of Engineers' final plan calls for building a 75 million gallon reservoir.
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Mon., May 21, 2012 3:00am
Endangered fish could swim farther up the Savannah River once the Savannah harbor deepening project gets started. US Army Corps of Engineers officials are proposing a $32 million "fishway" around an Augusta dam as part of the massive port expansion proposal. But aren't convinced the endangered shortnosed sturgeon would benefit from it.
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Thu., May 17, 2012 3:04pm
About 350,000 Georgia workers owe their jobs in some way to the Georgia ports. A report released by the University of Georgia says, 1-in-12 Georgia jobs is port-dependent. Critics say, the figures are inflated, counting every Wal-Mart greeter and store clerk as port-dependent since they work at a company that uses the ports.
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Thu., May 10, 2012 12:57pm
Charleston's mayor says, he believes environmentalists when it comes to Savannah's harbor deepening. South Carolina officials recently have taken up an ecological argument against it. Georgians suspect the opposition really is about protecting of Charleston from competition. But, Mayor Joseph Riley says, the concerns are honest.
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Tue., April 24, 2012 5:40pm
Governor Nathan Deal visited three cities Tuesday in a statewide tour to sign local bills and talk about the budget. At Augusta's Georgia Health Sciences University, Deal highlighted funding for 400 new residency slots at hospitals statewide. At the Georgia Ports Authority in Savannah, he focused on $47 million in the state budget for Savannah harbor expansion.
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Thu., April 19, 2012 1:59pm
A massive US Army Corps of Engineers report on the $650 million proposed Savannah port expansion goes out for public comment Friday. The report details every aspect of the project, including a $14 million plan to conserve a Confederate battleship in the way of the dredging. The ironclad sank in the harbor in 1864.
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Wed., April 18, 2012 12:07pm
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wants a federal judge to toss a lawsuit that says a $650 million deepening of the Savannah River shipping channel needs a South Carolina pollution permit. The Georgia ports want the channel deepened to handle larger ships that will call when the Panama Canal is deepened. Conservation groups on both sides of the river have sued.
