Tuesday, January 31, 2012

S.C. Senate votes to halt Savannah Port dredging

Second reading of bill passes 35-0

Posted by Chris Haire on Tue, Jan 31, 2012 at 3:08 PM

According to a tweet from the S.C. Senate GOP caucus, the state Senate has voted unanimously to overturn DHEC's decision approving a water quality permit for the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project. Previously, the state House voted for a similar bill, which passed 111-0.

As you know, without the water quality permit the proposed Savannah River dredging project would not be able to proceed. (Or at least that's one interpretation of the law. Another suggests that the project never needed DHEC's approval in the first place. It was a mere formality.)

I don't know about you, but all of a sudden I feel like shouting "hoorah" or "huzzah" or some other equally enthusiastic shit. The Port of Charleston has been saved. Yay! Nikki Haley and her evil goons over at the Department of Health and Environmental Control have been defeated. Yay! I'm sitting at work typing away at a blog post when I could be at drinking bourbon at a bar and scribbling dirty doodles of Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain getting bested by the men of the Salami Fighting Association on a beer coaster. Boo!

Whatever.

See, I seriously doubt this victory will last. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that the men and women of the S.C. General Assembly know this as well. It's all just for show. We all know that ultimately the courts will get involved and the harbor expansion project will proceed as planned while the Port of Charleston faces a future of obsolescence.

As I said in a previous post on this matter, the reports about the DHEC vote have been wrong about one crucial point, a point so crucial that it nearly destroys the conspiracy theory that Gov. Haley was paid off by friends of the Port of Savannah to advance the project: It was not the DHEC board of directors that overturned the permit denial as has been widely reported; it was the DHEC staff that reversed course.

The distinction is important for the simple fact that DHEC board members, as Haley appointees, are beholden to the governor for their paychecks while the DHEC staff is not. Haley can replace the board at will, but she'd likely have one helluva time firing all of the DHEC staffers involved in the permit denial. Just saying.

Also, it's important to keep in mind that the Army Corps of Engineers not only approved the Savannah Harbor expansion, they were the party that appealed the earlier DHEC denial, so if there's any conspiracy it must include them as well. Oh and you'd also have to add the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to the gang of rogues who plotted against South Carolina. After all, but the EPA and Fish and Wildlife have no objections to the harbor expansion project.

See, in order for this conspiracy to work, it has to be solely between Nikki Haley, the Georgia Ports Authority, and the DHEC board. Once you throw in the DHEC staff, the Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the EPA, the whole thing starts to get too fucking complicate — that is unless you want to believe that this thing goes all the way to the top of the U.S. government. Ugh. (That said, none of this means that Haley didn't pocket some cash in a little game of you-scratch-my-back, I-scratch-yours.)

When it comes down to it, all of this bitching and moaning by the General Assembly is about keeping the Port of Savannah from getting a competitive edge over the Port of Charleston. The trouble is, there's a good reason that the Port of Charleston is behind, and it's because our state elected officials and their comrades in D.C. have been sitting on their asses instead of making sure that the Port of Charleston gets the money it needs to expand. It's their laziness — not the acts of some sinister cabal — that has put the Port of Charleston way behind the Port of Savannah.

Update: The state Senate's 35-0 vote was for the second reading of Senate Bill 1115. According to the Charleston Regional Business Journal, a third and final reading is expected today. The Senate has also approved the House's version of the same bill.

P.S.: To all of you who came to this page via Huffington Post and made it this far, you deserve like two gold stars and an A++. To those of you HuffPo readers who didn't make it to here, you owe me a bourbon and Coke for being lame lemming linkers. I will find you.

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Comments (32)

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You conveniently omitted DeMutt's role in this fiasco

report 14 of 16 people like this.   
Posted by APB on January 31, 2012 at 11:43 PM

Less shipping equals less asshole 18 wheelers on I-26.
I'm good with that.

report 14 of 24 people like this.   
Posted by FCB on February 1, 2012 at 9:40 AM

It is assumed, FCB, that you are comfortable with "less asshole 18 wheelers on I-26" right up to the point where your gas stations are empty, your grocery aisles are bare, and your Zappo's deliveries are delayed. Then, probably less so.

report 21 of 29 people like this.   
Posted by MMS on February 1, 2012 at 12:09 PM

Yeah. The world was going to end when the Navy Base closed too.

report 3 of 5 people like this.   
Posted by FCB on February 1, 2012 at 12:12 PM

Nikki, Nikki, Nikki....her State of the State address was pathetic, just like her governing of this State. Boo x 2

report 34 of 38 people like this.   
Posted by No Name on February 1, 2012 at 1:58 PM

Did you forget the EPA, Fish & Wildlife, and Army Corp are chock full of Bush lifetime political appointees (the ones who suddenly became civil servants just hours before his term expired)? These subversive middle managers control what really happens in these agencies, and the neocons made sure they had lifetime "embeds" in place to continue their work with impunity.

report 33 of 34 people like this.   
Posted by Bert Ct on February 1, 2012 at 2:00 PM

I guess I get points for not being a loser who will click anything.

report 6 of 7 people like this.   
Posted by Adam on February 1, 2012 at 3:00 PM

Hello? Is anybody here? Damn, I must've mic-clicked again. This never happens to me at FreeRepublic.

Of course, the only time I was in SC, I was thrown in jail for fighting with the Navy. I don't remember too much of that time...

report 2 of 3 people like this.   
Posted by DerFarm on February 1, 2012 at 4:04 PM

So, huh, where do I pick up the two gold stars? Can the A++ count towards my piano lessons? Just asking.

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Posted by Dave on February 1, 2012 at 4:45 PM

Woot! Gold stars!!!

report 9 of 9 people like this.   
Posted by Carol on February 1, 2012 at 6:10 PM

Your the kind of piece a sh*t that shouldn't be in journalism. Why not call it what it is, "liberal dribble". You obviously don't have a clue what unbiased reporting is, and writing JUST FACTS. See you are a moron and can't do your job well enough to get the real story, so you have to fill in spaces with your liberal opinions. So really you are not a journalist just some liberal hack!!! Go FU*K OFF!

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Posted by HACTHREE on February 1, 2012 at 6:57 PM

hackthree -- wOW!!! I am just .... like ... blown away with the wit and prescience and logic and .. and .. and .. just like blown away, man. If you'd move to Massachusetts you could marry me. I would, like, totally man have your children.

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Posted by DerFarm on February 1, 2012 at 8:10 PM

LOL. Two gold stars and A++ sounds like cheap southern bourbon to me. Hook me up.

Sounds like the only thing that's going to be sailing into the Port of Charleston any time soon will be a couple of canoes. All hail Nikki Haley job creation policies.

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Posted by WorldGoneWild on February 1, 2012 at 11:56 PM

your article would be so much better if you weren't trying to be cute/funny.

report 3 of 6 people like this.   
Posted by your high school teacher on February 2, 2012 at 1:56 AM

Great article, Haire.
Don't worry. Georgia is very little competition for anything.....especially education, but that's another blog......or is it?
Why is it that representatives in office today are so unintelligent and they don't have one iota of curiosity?
We really need to elect people with more than attention span of a gnat and test them to make sure they have even read the legal language of bills before them.
That said, congratulations....from the state with a former veterinarian for a governor and currently a junkyard owner for governor, Georgia of course.

report 10 of 10 people like this.   
Posted by Bootmeetbutt on February 2, 2012 at 2:33 AM

That is the dumbest, kitschy, adlosecent piece of journalism I have ever read.

Get another job and take a pay cut.

report 0 of 17 people like this.   
Posted by Eric on February 2, 2012 at 9:46 AM

May I please trade my gold stars for the bourbon--a good one, double, on the rocks--preferably in a noisy bar? Love your state (I'm a Coloradan). Keep ranting rabidly.

report 3 of 4 people like this.   
Posted by GalapagoLarry on February 2, 2012 at 10:28 AM

You know what, I've had a change of heart. A round of Wild Turkey Rare Breed for everybody. (Personally, I like it better than Pappy Van Winkle and Noah's Mill, although I tend to stick with Makers Mark.)

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Posted by chrishaire on February 2, 2012 at 10:45 AM

What startled me about the Gov's State of the State Addy was the lack of her ability to read aloud - it sounded truly junior high - not ready for the big stage at all - maybe she shouldn't take that plumb spot at the RNC podium she got for the DHEC deal after all - just sayin'...

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Posted by Willard?Really? on February 2, 2012 at 11:12 AM

Isn't this a shovel ready project that repubs are rejecting? So the executive branch does because the people of Nebraska are concerned about soiling the largest aquafir in the plains. Here Repubs are afraid of "free market" principals prevailing. God love politics!

report 1 of 1 people like this.   
Posted by notfromSC on February 2, 2012 at 11:20 AM

Where do I pick up my two gold stars? I made it all the way to the end...

report 1 of 2 people like this.   
Posted by GlennB on February 2, 2012 at 12:03 PM

HP reader here; Just send me some Hushpuppies and a glass of Lemonaid Ty ;-)

report 1 of 1 people like this.   
Posted by Sinjin on February 2, 2012 at 10:29 PM

Came via Huffpo but since I live just down the road, I think I'll forgo my stars and join you for the drink!

report 2 of 2 people like this.   
Posted by SeaTurtle on February 2, 2012 at 11:01 PM

Never visited but your invitation is really compelling. Nice writing; disregard the sourpusses.

report 3 of 3 people like this.   
Posted by Jason Mundstuk on February 3, 2012 at 1:06 AM

So, what do I get for getting to the end of the story AND the end of the comment thread? (Besides the inevitable blinding hot poker that shoots through my temple every time I run into one of these: "Your the kind of piece a sh*t that shouldn't be in journalism. Why not call it what it is, "liberal dribble". ")

Do I get an extra star because, unlike the quoted commenter, I actually comprehended what was written?

report 6 of 6 people like this.   
Posted by Penny Krayer on February 3, 2012 at 1:46 AM

Great blog! A real voice in the wilderness...

report 3 of 3 people like this.   
Posted by PickensProud on February 3, 2012 at 9:42 AM

When the new and improved Panama canal is finished, those citizens living near East Coast ports that impeded their improvement toward capability to accept the billions of dollars of Asian imports and exports redirected from West Coast ports will seem beyond simply stupid.

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Posted by John Cimasi on February 3, 2012 at 10:02 AM

2 gold stars and an A++ for me!

report 1 of 1 people like this.   
Posted by Shy on February 3, 2012 at 10:15 AM

Nikki Haley's days as Tea Party favorite are over. She has no support within her own party. Maybe she can switch to the Baloney Party. www.sci-burr.com

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Posted by Sky High on February 3, 2012 at 7:19 PM

Congratulations to the SC Senate for putting our governor in her place. In case you all did not realize, Charleston is a port city and the port is a major industry which brings tons of revenue and jobs. Who cares? I care and so do most thinking people. Thank goodness for our senate who generally votes with their heads!

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Posted by Lisa Meyer Potts on February 3, 2012 at 9:01 PM

NC Huffpo reader here. Your governor is much cuter than our governor...but our Beaufort took best small town award, so take that.

report 0 of 1 people like this.   
Posted by Capt. Obvious on February 3, 2012 at 11:19 PM

Basil Hayden. and I prefer it neat, bitch. Nice article though. Nikki Haley is almost as bad as Rick Scott. Throw in some felony convictions and a 200mm blood money trust fund and they could be husband and wife at the next Koch Brothers circle jerk out here in Methland, CA.

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Posted by Blake Hussein Traister on February 4, 2012 at 10:52 AM
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