As printed in the Jasper County Sun, September 17, 2008

Sanford’s Port Update

My office was asked to give a brief updated on the status of the Jasper County Port… I would first off give real credit to so many in industry circles who worked for years to in fact bring the Jasper County issue to the boiling point such that it not only got my and Sony Perdue’s attention – but the attention of shipping lines from across the world and businesses from across our respective states.

Given the number of rebuffs from the State Port Authority and others in positions of leadership to the people of Jasper County on the Jasper Port issue over the years, it is understandable that some people still have doubts and concerns about the port actually being built. The movement in government is never as fast as any of us would like or expect, but solid things are being done that I believe ensure that the people of our state wil have another port option from which to do business, and the people of Jasper will see this significant investment.

• After 15 years of legal battles including two state Supreme Court cases, for the first time the 1,800 acres for the Jasper County Port are out of the hands of the Georgia DOT and is now co-owned jointly by the states. Every legal challenge regarding the port has now been addressed so that from a legal standpoint this project is finally on go.
  
• Working with our states’ Congressional delegations, last September we successfully pushed for federal legislation directing the Army Corps of Engineers to remove the spoil easement on the future site of the Port. While a study of alternative dredging spoil sites still needs to be conducted to move forward on this front, having this course of action spelled out in federal law represents another completed piece of the puzzle in making the port site ready for construction.
  
• The bi-state governing board for the new port has recently invited engineering proposals, and our two states’ Departments of Transportation have started planning the highway infrastructure improvements that will need to be in place for the Jasper port.

Movement on things like these steps I just outlined I believe has gotten us to a point of “critical mass” in a political sense, so that even when Governor Perdue and I are gone from office, the project is far enough down the path of bi-state cooperation that it would be very difficult for a future administration on either side of the river to reverse course. As an example the direction of this project now has buy-in from out state’s business community in a way like never before, with people like Jim Micali, former head of Michelin’s North American Headquarters in Greenville, stepping to the plate in arguing its completion vital to an upstate business’ ability to compete.

Moving forward on this port has been a long time coming for people of Jasper County. You deserve credit for where we are, and I think it will prove to be well worth the effort: It has been estimated that a Jasper Port would create 8,500 jobs upon opening – and nearly 98,000 jobs once it’s fully operational. During the two and one half years I have left in office I will do anything I can to further its advance and I believe I can speak for Sonny doing the same on his side of the river.

The one unsolicited piece of advice I would leave for people of the county is to be proactive in using the time before it comes to carve out and protect pieces of the South Carolina so many of us grew up in. At times I fear for the Lowcountry and what it will look like in fifty years if we are not real proactive about balancing growth with quality of life. These are things for every resident to make their voice heard on as this port indeed winds it way toward reality.

Gov. Mark Sanford