Corps to update Charleston harbor deepening study

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is slated to provide an update on a proposed $300 million deepening of the Charleston Harbor shipping channel.

Reporters are scheduled to meet with the corps in Charleston on Wednesday.

The agency has been conducting a $20 million study on just what should be considered in an environmental impact statement on the harbor deepening.

Maritime interests say the channel needs to be deepened below its current 45 feet to handle the larger ships that will routinely be calling when the Panama Canal deepening project is completed in 2014.