Governor Defends Savannah Harbor Dredging Stance (USA)

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal had requested that S.C. Governor Nikki Haley asks her board to give a hearing to an appeal by the Army Corps of Engineers, which was seeking a permit as part of Georgia’s dredging project. On November 10, DHEC board heard the appeal and awarded the permit.

South Carolina congress protested the decision and warned that it would harm their state’s competitiveness and prospects for a bi-state Jasper Ocean Terminal. S.C. Savannah River Maritime Commission announced plans to challenge the DHEC board’s decision in court.

Yesterday, Gov. Haley called the outcry “political rhetoric.”

“I know it’s unfortunate in this political world everybody likes to think there’s something behind everything. There’s nothing here,” said Haley. “And what you have is a DHEC board that did their job. What you have is a governor who gave courtesy to another governor to have a hearing, and that’s basically it.”

“Georgia is a sister state,” Haley said. “Is there anything they can do? Absolutely. Will I be asking? Absolutely. … I would expect (Deal) to give me the same courtesies that I gave to him, the courtesy of allowing them to come and sit in front of our board.”

[mappress]

Dredging Today Staff, November 29, 2011;