Senate may sink key study of harbor

South Carolina business leaders fear the Port of Charleston will fall behind its competitors because the Senate's 2011 appropriations bill doesn't include $400,000 to study deepening its harbor.

But U.S. Sen Lindsey Graham said Wednesday he's working to fix that.

"We're just seeing panic," Graham said. "It would be a complete economic disaster for South Carolina if our port is not set up to accommodate the larger ships that are coming through the Panama Canal."

At issue is whether the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will receive a congressional mandate and money to continue studying how to deepen

South Carolina's main shipping channel to handle ever-larger container ships.

Also at issue is whether the state's interests will suffer if more of its congressional leaders pledge not to seek earmarks.

Graham's colleague, U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, has condemned the earmark process and vowed not to seek any -- a point of view popular with tea party activists and others concerned about federal spending and debt.

While U.S. Rep. Henry Brown, R-S.C., supported the earmark, his communications director, Sharon Axson, noted that he requested that other portions of the federal budget be decreased by at least $400,000 to avoid adding to the federal debt. State Rep. Tim Scott, considered the favorite to win Brown's seat in November, also has vowed not to seek earmarks.

Graham said he shares DeMint's concerns about earmarks, "but this is an example of where, at the federal level, the Congress and the Senate have to weigh in because the Corps of Engineers will only respond to congressional directive. They're looking at guidance from us."

DeMint said he supports both efforts to deepen the harbor and to reform the way the Corps of Engineers works. "Unfortunately, the Army Corps of Engineers is drowning in a massive backlog of projects because every year Congress passes hundreds of new earmarks they can't keep up with," he said. "Many of these earmarks are wasteful and distract from truly important needs like the study at Charleston Harbor."

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U.S. Reps. Jim Clyburn and James Spratt, both Democrats, also helped ensure that $400,000 was added into the House's version of the appropriations bill. Graham said it's unclear what will happen if the Senate doesn't follow suit.

Competing ports of Savannah; Jacksonville, Fla.; Wilmington, N.C.; and Norfolk, Va., are on track to receive at least $300,000 in the most recent version of the Senate Energy and Water Bill.

As South Carolina business groups got wind of the situation Wednesday, they joined in a letter-writing campaign asking Graham for help.

"The future of our state and our port is at stake," several letters said, including ones from the Lowcountry Manufacturer's Council and the S.C. Chamber of Commerce.

Jack Maybank of Maybank Industries wrote, "Any delay would be costly both to the project and our port's competitive position."

The harbor was last widened from a depth of 40 feet to 45 feet in 2004, but the State Port Authority and its customers want it deeper still, said Byron Miller, the authority's director of marketing, public relations and planning.

Since this year began, 83 container ships -- more than 10 percent of the total calling here -- have drawn more than 40 feet of water, meaning their arrival and departure can be constrained by the tides, Miller said.

While the wider Panama Canal isn't scheduled to open until 2014, container ships already are being built larger in anticipation of that date.

"We're already seeing these bigger ships now. They're coming through the Suez Canal from Asia," Miller said. "We're getting several ships per week that are Post Panamax, too big for the Panama Canal today."

In February, the MSC Rita became the largest container ship ever to call at the Port of Charleston. It measured 1,063 feet long, and its draft of almost 48 feet when loaded meant that it had to arrive at high tide.

"If our harbor is not able to accept those ships, we're going to lose massive market share," Graham said. "If we miss a window here, that just puts us behind the eight ball."

The Corps of Engineers is expected to need about $3.4 million over three years to complete its harbor- deepening study.

Half of that money would come from the state, but Graham noted federal law wouldn't let the state foot the whole bill, even if it were willing to.

The feasibility study would examine which sections should be dredged to what depth, and where the spoil material could go.

It is expected to take several more years to complete work on any deepening project. The 2004 widening work cost $148 million total and was the culmination of planning begun in 1990, Miller said.

Reach Robert Behre at 937-5771 or rbehre@postandcourier.com.