Categories: U.S.

Members of Congress from Georgia lend support to study whether Port of Savannah needs to be deepened

close Video

Georgia lawmaker says whistleblower alerted him of secret migrant room at airport

Georgia State Sen. Colton Moore joined ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss his altercation with volunteers who appeared to be helping migrants secure flights to cities nationwide after arriving at the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

Every member of Congress from Georgia signed a letter calling for a study to determine whether the busy shipping channel to the Port of Savannah needs to be deepened again after a $937 million harbor expansion that was just completed in 2022.

The offices of Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Rep. Buddy Carter on Tuesday released a copy of the letter sent to top-ranking members of the House and Senate committees that would handle legislation to authorize a study.

The Georgia Ports Authority is pushing for Congress to consider another round of deepening Savannah’s shipping channel. The agency’s leaders say ever-growing classes of cargo ships need deeper water to reach the port with full loads at lower tides — even though less than two years have passed since the Army Corps of Engineers finished the last project, which added 5 feet of depth to the waterway.

GEORGIA BILL TO FACILITATE RETURN OF MARSHLANDS TO PRIVATE CITIZENS ADVANCES

Savannah has the fourth-busiest U.S. seaport for cargo shipped in containers — giant metal boxes used to transport goods ranging from consumer electronics to frozen chickens. Savannah handled 4.9 million container units of imports and exports in the 2023 calendar year.

The letter signed by Georgia’s two Democratic senators and each of its House members — nine Republicans and five Democrats — argues that “we cannot sit back” as increasing percentages of ships arriving at Savannah have to wait for higher tides to reach the port.

“Such restrictions prevent the Port of Savannah from operating efficiently and at full capacity, significantly and unnecessarily limiting the nation’s waterborne commerce,” the lawmakers’ letter states.

The ship CMA CGM Marco Polo is seen heading up river in Savannah, Georgia, to the Port of Savannah on May, 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton, File)

Dated Jan. 26, the letter was sent to the chairs and ranking minority party members of the Senate Environment and Public Works and the House Transportation and Infrastructure committees.

Before another round of dredging could begin, Congress would have to authorize a feasibility study as part of a new version of the Water Resources Development Act, which deals with infrastructure projects nationwide.

In an interview last week, Georgia Ports Authority CEO Griff Lynch said it might be difficult to get a new study authorized before 2025.

“We want to see that project happen as quickly as possible,” Lynch said. “We’ve just started, so we have to be realistic. But, you know, we have got tremendous support.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Getting Congress to authorize a study would be the first step in a long process.

Feasibility studies on the prior round of dredging began in 1997, and nearly two decades passed before it could begin. The job was finally completed in May 2022.

Lynch has said he believes the Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees navigation projects in U.S. waterways, could work more efficiently this time and finish a new one within 10 years.

Share

Recent Posts

Senate puts Trump team in place, sets up agenda fight after 100-day sprint

The Senate, by its own standards, is concluding one of its most productive periods in…

2 hours ago

COVID crackdown: Republicans seek to defund universities still requiring vaccine

FIRST ON FOX: Lawmakers will put forward a bill Monday to put the force of…

2 hours ago

Dems stage 12-hour ‘moral moment’ at US Capitol, rejecting Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., staged a sit-in on…

2 hours ago

Hegseth vows crackdown on military obesity after shocking Reserve, Guard report

More than two-thirds of Reserve and Guard troops are overweight, a potential threat to readiness…

2 hours ago

US Treasury targets Houthi-linked vessels to disrupt efforts to fund ‘dangerous and destabilizing attacks’

The Trump administration sanctioned three vessels and their owners for providing support to the Houthis…

2 hours ago

Large parts of Spain, Portugal struck by massive power outage

close Video Traffic lights out in Spain as massive power outage impacts country Traffic lights…

3 hours ago