Governor Nathan Deal said that he wants to see dredging get underway this year on the long-sought deepening of the Port of Savannah’s shipping channel.
“ This general assembly has already made changes to funding formulas so that interstate projects and freight corridors will be prioritized ,” Deal said to the state lawmakers in his State of the State address.
“ In the budget I am submitting to you, I have included $35M for the deepening of the Port of Savannah. If approved, we will have $266M, which will represent Georgia’s share of this important project. I intend for us to start dredging the project this year! This was first authorized by Congress in 1999.
“Approximately 50 percent of the cost of this project will be devoted to environmental mitigation. In addition, the project has been approved by four separate federal agencies. We have studied and planned long enough. It’s time to start moving dirt!”
[mappress]
Press Release, January 16, 2014