Environmentalists paid US$30 million for jobs if they drop dredging suit
US District Judge Richard Gergel has accepted the US$33.5 million payout by the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) to environmentalists to provide more eco jobs because they dropped their law suit against dredging the Savannah River.
"This allows a project that is critical for our national and regional economies to move forward," said Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, referring the Savannah Harbour Expansion Plan (SHEP), that will enable the port to dock 9,000-TEU ships against today's limit of 6,000-TEU vessels.
Much of the money won in the action holding up harbour progress will provide jobs to environmentalists to monitor aquatic life and spawn a new bureau, the Savannah River Restoration Board, to repair damage done to wetlands.
"The agreement directs $15 million of these funds towards wetlands protection and restoration efforts. Wetlands provide critical nursery habitat for fish and shellfish," said the Southern Environmental Law Centre that represented the Savannah Riverkeeper eco lobby in the litigation.
Some $3 million will go to monitoring water quality, and another $3 million for monitoring fish and their estuary habitats, said the environmental lawyers.
"The agreement also creates a Savannah River Restoration Board to start a new $12.5 million initiative to restore river bend "oxbows" cut off from the river by earlier [Army] Corps [of Engineers] navigation projects," said the law centre.
Parties to the mediation included the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, the Savannah Riverkeeper, the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League, the South Carolina Wildlife Federation, the US Army Corps of Engineers, the Georgia Ports Authority, and the South Carolina Savannah River Maritime Commission.
Dredging is needed to dock larger containerships that are already arriving through the Suez Canal, and in 2015 through the expanded Panama Canal. Average vessel size calling at US east coast ports is 4,500 TEU and dredging will increase this to 9,000 TEU at Savannah.
New mega ships are today running between 10,000 and 16,000 TEU with 18,000-TEUers to set sail this year. Ships of normal design will go to 9,000 TEU through the expanded Panama, but specially-designed shorter, broader and shallower 13,000 TEUers can transit too.
With Judge Gergel's acceptance of the settlement, project construction can begin once Congress completes action on the Water Resources Development Act.
US District Judge Richard Gergel has accepted the US$33.5 million payout by the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) to environmentalists to provide more eco jobs because they dropped their law suit against dredging the Savannah River.
"This allows a project that is critical for our national and regional economies to move forward," said Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, referring the Savannah Harbour Expansion Plan (SHEP), that will enable the port to dock 9,000-TEU ships against today's limit of 6,000-TEU vessels.
Much of the money won in the action holding up harbour progress will provide jobs to environmentalists to monitor aquatic life and spawn a new bureau, the Savannah River Restoration Board, to repair damage done to wetlands.
"The agreement directs $15 million of these funds towards wetlands protection and restoration efforts. Wetlands provide critical nursery habitat for fish and shellfish," said the Southern Environmental Law Centre that represented the Savannah Riverkeeper eco lobby in the litigation.
Some $3 million will go to monitoring water quality, and another $3 million for monitoring fish and their estuary habitats, said the environmental lawyers.
"The agreement also creates a Savannah River Restoration Board to start a new $12.5 million initiative to restore river bend "oxbows" cut off from the river by earlier [Army] Corps [of Engineers] navigation projects," said the law centre.
Parties to the mediation included the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, the Savannah Riverkeeper, the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League, the South Carolina Wildlife Federation, the US Army Corps of Engineers, the Georgia Ports Authority, and the South Carolina Savannah River Maritime Commission.
Dredging is needed to dock larger containerships that are already arriving through the Suez Canal, and in 2015 through the expanded Panama Canal. Average vessel size calling at US east coast ports is 4,500 TEU and dredging will increase this to 9,000 TEU at Savannah.
New mega ships are today running between 10,000 and 16,000 TEU with 18,000-TEUers to set sail this year. Ships of normal design will go to 9,000 TEU through the expanded Panama, but specially-designed shorter, broader and shallower 13,000 TEUers can transit too.
With Judge Gergel's acceptance of the settlement, project construction can begin once Congress completes action on the Water Resources Development Act.