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Associated Press
12-02-2025
- Automotive
- Associated Press
A Georgia seaport becomes the largest US automobile port, surpassing Baltimore
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The Port of Brunswick rode double-digit growth to become the top U.S. seaport for automobiles last year, Georgia officials said Wednesday, surpassing the Port of Baltimore after it shut down for weeks following a deadly bridge collapse. Georgia Ports Authority CEO Griff Lynch made the announcement during a luncheon speech in Brunswick, a small coastal city of 15,000 that state officials have turned into a leading gateway for automobile imports and exports as well as farm and construction equipment. Brunswick's port moved 841,000 cars and trucks across its docks in the 2024 calendar year. That's an increase of more than 13% over the previous year. Lynch said the boom coincided with $262 million in improvements completed last fall that expanded Brunswick's capacity for processing and storing autos. 'That's huge. I can't believe it myself,' Lynch said in a phone interview after his speech. He added: 'This is one of those 'If you build it, they will come' situations.' The Port of Baltimore led the U.S. in automobile imports and exports for more than a decade. But its total dropped 11% last year to fewer than 750,000 autos, said Richard Scher, a spokesman for the Maryland Port Administration. The steep drop followed the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge last March, which shut down Baltimore's shipping channel for weeks. Trade was slowed as the waterway reopened in phases before being fully cleared in June. In 2023, Baltimore handled a record 847,000 autos. 'We are quite certain that, if not for the Key Bridge incident, we would've had another record year last year,' Scher said in an email. The Port of Brunswick often gets overshadowed by its larger sister port in Savannah, the fourth-busiest in the U.S. for retail goods and other commodities shipped in containers. But Georgia officials have invested heavily in Brunswick, where Lynch said recent upgrades and expansions have caused automakers to shift business to Georgia from neighboring ports such as Charleston, South Carolina, and Jacksonville, Florida. He noted that heavy equipment shipments jumped 160% in the past year to nearly 29,000 units as Brunswick added facilities to install accessories and perform other on-site customization to imported farm and construction equipment. The Port of Brunswick plans further upgrades in the coming years. A new berth built for docking larger car-carrying ships is being designed and should open in 2027, Lynch said. The port is also building a new railyard that will ultimately triple its capacity for using trains to deliver cars for export. Meanwhile, Georgia port officials are looking to Washington to fund improvements to Brunswick's shipping channel. The Army Corps of Engineers wants to widen portions of the waterway to give ships more room to turn after the South Korean freighter Golden Ray tipped over while leaving the port in 2019. Lynch said maintenance dredging is also needed to return the channel to its proper depth of up to 38 feet (11.5 meters) . 'Clearly, Baltimore was handicapped' last year, Lynch said. 'We don't want to take advantage of that. So we'll see if we maintain it in 2025.'
CBS News
10-02-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Proposed Maryland bill would prevent dredged material from being stored in overburdened communities
BALTIMORE -- Maryland lawmakers have proposed a bill that could prevent the state's port administration from storing dredged material from the Baltimore Harbor in already overburdened communities. In June 2024, Anne Arundel County residents complained about the environmental impacts of the Maryland Port Administration's planned confined aquatic disposal project. Residents say this proposed bill is needed to protect their waterways for decades. "We're very concerned about that being dumped into the water, right near our homes," said Stoney Beach resident John Garofolo. What would the proposed bill accomplish? Senate Bill 168 – the Environmental Justice in Confined Aquatic Disposal Act – aims to prevent the construction of confined aquatic disposal (CAD) cells within five miles of a residential overburdened community. "The state and other businesses keep dumping environmentally contaminated material in their area, and this would protect them from that," said Sen. Bryan Simonaire. Sen. Simonaire sponsored the bill after residents expressed concern about the port administration's plan to build a CAD cell on the Patapsco River less than a mile from their homes. "The communities that are overburdened already don't want to be the testbed for the state to see if it's going to work or what kind of adverse environmental impact it'll be," Simonaire said. If passed, the bill would go into effect on October 1, 2025. What is CAD? CAD involves digging a hole on the river floor in order to store the hazardous dredged material from the Baltimore harbor. Garofolo, and other residents, fear this would bring more contaminants to their already overburdened community, after decades of pollution from surrounding industries. Garofolo testified in favor of the bill at the Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee hearing on Jan. 28. "The existing pollution has had overwhelming impacts to our health, employment and businesses, the Patapsco is not a resource to be exploited nor are its communities," Garofolo said. Life-long Pasadena resident and boater Carl Treff also testified. "As a resident, a recreationalist, an environmental steward of the Patapsco River, I cannot fathom in this era of bay restoration, how mining and destroying the bottom of our river is a good idea," Treff said. MPA provided the following statement to WJZ: "The Maryland Port Administration (MPA) is currently facilitating the state's evaluation of a dredged sediment management option known as confined aquatic disposal under the statutory framework of the state's Dredged Material Management Program created by the Maryland General Assembly." "The evaluation of contained aquatic disposal is an ongoing process that will continue to involve a comprehensive subcommittee formed by the MPA that includes outside stakeholders including local communities." "Part of this process is to fully understand the complete technical, environmental, socioeconomic, and community impacts of confined aquatic disposal. Prioritizing environmental justice is a core component of the subcommittee's focus." "We understand the concerns that have been raised and will make sure that as the process continues, it does so while continuing to be transparent and inclusive. We believe that a ban as proposed in this bill is premature, and circumvents the important work being done by the subcommittee."
