Savannah port expansion

The issue:
The Georgia Ports Authority plans to deepen the Savannah Harbor from 42 feet to as much as 48 feet to accommodate larger vessels the shipping industry is adopting. It's a massive undertaking that poses a number of dangers to the port's fragile ecosystem, but it's also widely viewed as important to the state's economy.

Our stand:
The Georgia Conservancy is closely monitoring the expansion plans. We’ve been at the table with port officials, advocating strongly that any plan must include strict monitoring and mitigation measures that ensure the port’s long-term environmental health.

The risks posed by the project are clear. Deepening the port could worsen the low-oxygen "dead zones" in the river. Saltwater may push farther upriver, endangering freshwater wetlands at the adjacent Savannah National Wildlife Refuge. Also of concern: the impact on the habitats of the striped bass and federally endangered shortnose sturgeon.

We want to protect the harbor's ecosystem while acknowledging the economic importance of the deepening project. Our goal is to create conditions under which both the port and estuary are able to thrive.

Ultimately, our support or opposition will rest upon whether the project's mitigation and monitoring measures ensure that the deepening performs as promised, now and in the future.

The Georgia Conservancy has submitted comments to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during the formal comment period on the proposed deepening plan. We detailed what we said are flaws in the proposed monitoring and mitigation plan and recommended steps the Corps should take to ensure the health of the estuary’s ecosystem.

Our main points:

• The Corps proposes to monitor water quality in the port area for five years – far too short a period of time given the scope and complexity of the deepening project.
• The plan does not include guaranteed additional funding to deal with any unexpected problems caused by the deepening. The Conservancy believes that money for any remediation should be funded during the construction process as opposed to a promise to ask Congress for money later.
• The Georgia Conservancy also asked the Corps to fund a long-term land acquisition effort that would replace – acre for acre – any tidal freshwater wetlands lost to the deepening as suitable property becomes available.
• Concerned that the Corps would have too much authority over both the deepening project and post-construction monitoring, the Georgia Conservancy has asked the Corps to create a “Savannah Harbor Resources Adaptive Management Council” overseen by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, to oversee the ongoing mitigation portion of the project, monitor the environmental impacts, and recommend corrective actions.

The Georgia Conservancy’s mission includes forging common-ground solutions to our most pressing environmental problems.

Following this philosophy, we have worked to position the Georgia Conservancy so that we have a place at the negotiating table as final decisions are made regarding the deepening project. We feel this is the best way to influence the process and succeed in our ultimate goal of protecting our state’s natural resources.