SPA approves land purchase for shared cargo terminal

Looking past a long-standing rivalry, the S.C. State Ports Authority today approved joint acquisition of land that will become a massive marine cargo terminal shared with Georgia.

The Georgia Ports Authority approved a similar resolution yesterday.

The more than 1,500 acres of Jasper County land along the Savannah River will cost the two states nearly $7.6 million, or $5,000 per acre. Located on the South Carolina side of the river, the property is owned by Georgia's Department of Transportation.

A transfer is set for July 28.

"This is a historic kind of move here," said SPA Chairman David Posek before the vote. "The faster we can get it moving, the better."

State port officials had to settle disagreements with both Georgia and Jasper County before reaching the decision late last year to construct the terminal. The terminal is expected to be functional in about a decade.

A group called the Jasper Ocean Terminal Joint Project Office, which formed to move the project forward, will meet in the coming weeks to plan the next steps, Posek said. After the unanimous decision to approve the acquisition, he congratulated the SPA board.

See Wednesday's Post and Courier for more details.