N.C. ports authority gets approval to buy 600 acres for new terminal

N.C. ports authority gets approval to buy 600 acres for new terminal    The North Carolina State Ports Authority has received authority from the state’s council to buy a 600-acre tract on the west bank of the Cape Fear River in Brunswick County.
   The land, located next to the Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point and a nuclear power plant, will be the site of the ports authority’s proposed North Carolina International Port (NCIP).
   “The N.C. International Port will provide a ‘missing link,’ a gigantic boost to economic development to attract the major manufacturing and assembly plants which require access to deepwater port facilities with global service coverage,” said Tom Eager, chief executive officer of the ports’ authority, in a statement Tuesday.
   The ports authority said the next step in the process is closing, which is expected in late March. Then the ports authority will start work on an environmental impact study and perform an economic assessment with the Army Corps of Engineers for dredge work.
   Development of the NCIP is expected to take eight to 10 years, the ports authority said. The completed terminal will have a capacity of 1.5 million TEUs a year.