White House to Expedite Charleston Port Project

Charleston's port will be among seven infrastructure projects that the Obama Administration is expediting, according to a White House press release.

According to the White House, "the Army Corps is implementing an aggressive planning schedule for the Charleston Harbor Feasibility Study that will examine the benefits and costs of deepening the Federal navigation channel for Charleston Harbor from its existing depth of 45 feet to a maximum of 50 feet to accommodate."

S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley issued the following statement following the announcement:

“This is a huge win for Charleston and for all of South Carolina.  Back in February, I stressed to the President how important deepening Charleston's Port was and how frustrating the Army Corps' timetable was, and I'm thrilled to see the Administration has sped up our project.  We've said all along that Charleston was the class of the ports on the east coast, that we weren't afraid of competition, and that at the end of the day we would have a 50 ft deepwater port that was envied around the world.  Today is a huge, huge leap forward for our state.”

Rep. James Clyburn also issued a statement.

“I have been working closely with the Obama Administration to expedite the Charleston Harbor deepening, and I appreciate their responsiveness to our request.  In addition to the Army Corps announcement last week, the President’s inclusion of the harbor deepening in the We Can’t Wait initiative reiterates this Administration’s commitment to this project.  More than just a parochial initiative, expediting the deepening the Charleston Harbor will improve our nation’s infrastructure and create jobs.” 

WISTV reports that the administration is committing to completing all reviews by September 2015.