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Port promotes green efforts as it expands
By Molly Parker
Staff Writer
The S.C. State Ports Authority has rolled out a new campaign including a new Web site highlighting its ongoing environmental initiatives.
The message: The maritime industry is a lot greener than you might think.
SPA President and CEO Bernard S. Groseclose Jr. said the purpose of the “The Pledge for Growth” campaign is to encourage business and municipal leaders to start thinking critically about steps they can take to keep Charleston environmentally sound while still growing the region’s economic base.
“We fully believe that a strong economy and healthy environment and quality of life are fully compatible,” he said.
The campaign was unveiled as the SPA busily prepares the old Navy base in North Charleston for a new container terminal set to open in 2013 that could expand the Port of Charleston by 50%.
The S.C. Coastal Conservation League, which is seeking in court to overturn the SPA’s permits to build in the epicenter of a residential community, called the effort little more than an expensive diversion.
“This is a transparent attempt to divert attention from serious issues that need to be discussed in public and corrected,” director Nancy Vinson said.
The league filed suit in November against the Charleston District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, alleging that permits issued for the terminal and access road connecting it to Interstate 26 understated the true environmental and traffic-related impacts.
A recent study of the nation’s 10 largest ports by Energy Futures Inc., a Colorado nonprofit organization, found that the Port of Charleston has been behind the curve in emissions controls but noted “some progress to date.”
SPA spokesman Byron Miller said the new campaign is designed to create more awareness regarding ongoing environmental issues and to encourage others to get on board. The SPA, he said, is not worried that public opinion will turn against the port expansion.
The three-berth terminal is under construction on the SPA’s 280-acre plot on the Navy base, adjacent to the Noisette Co.’s planned mixed-use residential community to include up to 7,000 dwellings.
On a recent trip around the construction site, Joe Bryant, the SPA’s vice president of terminal development, noted that a good deal of building material will come from recycled sources.
Construction of the terminal includes three years of site prep and three years of construction. Contractors have been prepping the land and tearing down buildings, such as the officer’s club that for years was a social hangout for Navy commanders. Settlement basins used to treat stormwater runoff are nearly completed.
The bricks, concrete and asphalt from old Navy structures will become building blocks for the terminal. SPA is awaiting a land disturbance permit from DHEC’s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management to build out an additional 800 feet into the water.
“As soon as we get that, we’ll start the work,” he said.
The SPA is required to restore an acre of tidal marsh elsewhere for every acre it destroys. The authority’s new Web site, http://www.pledgeforgrowth.com/ says that it plans to double the requirement, restoring 22 acres of tidal marsh along the southern tip of Drum Island.
Molly Parker is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at mparker@scbiznews.com.
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