Blazing a trail for resilience in South Carolina We’re thrilled that the South Carolina Office of Resilience has released its Strategic Statewide Resilience and Risk Reduction Plan after working with hundreds of stakeholders to inform our state’s resilient path forward. Our Conservation League staff served on various ad hoc committees, contributing to some of the 54 recommendations that came out…
By Trapper Fowler, North Coast Project Manager South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) made a mistake approving Edge Road mine and the general public should be concerned. Soilutions LLC half-heartedly addressed concerns for wildlife and hydrological impacts. But what about concerns related to best management practices for spotted turtles, groundwater monitoring wells on Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve, larger buffers on the preserve, donation of the mine after reclamation…
By Faith Rivers James, Executive Director In less than a month, I will celebrate my one-year anniversary as Executive Director of the Coastal Conservation League. What a year it has been! We’ve continued to make a significant impact on the future of our coast, and I have been honored to be a part of the work this year. Just in the last few months, we’ve advocated for and supported citizens seeking to protect their neighborhood…
The Compromise Alternative for Highway 41 seeks to limit impacts to both nature and community. The compromise has reached a new phase in the approval process: Charleston County and their design and engineering consultants have submitted plans to the Army Corps of Engineers and the S.C. Department of Health & Environmental Control to review and issue the necessary permits. You can help advance this balanced approach to improving Highway 41 by submitting comments in support of…
HORRY COUNTY, SC – On Wednesday, July 5, the South Carolina Environmental Law Project filed a request on behalf of the Coastal Conservation League to the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) for board review of the June 20 DHEC staff decision to issue a permit to Soilutions LLC, authorizing the company to resume operations and begin additional construction on 33 acres at Edge Road Mine, a sand, clay and topsoil mine adjacent…
For nearly five years, we have worked closely with the Southern Environmental Law Center to develop recommendations for updates to the real estate disclosure form in South Carolina that would require much more comprehensive information be provided to people looking to purchase property. Since 2019 the form has accounted for FEMA flood claims, but there was a growing need to provide additional information around potential…
Wetlands like South Carolina’s iconic Carolina Bays are integral for the water we rely on to drink, fish, and recreate in. Wetlands are also essential for flood protection by acting as natural sponges, storing water and allowing for groundwater recharge. Despite all this, the U.S. Supreme Court recently stripped away federal protections for isolated wetlands, and with that decision, gave developers…
We know our estuary ecosystem is crucial to keeping our coastal communities resilient, providing key habitat for marine mammals and birds and maintaining ecotourism. In order to keep this unique habitat from drowning as sea levels rise, salt marsh needs to be able to migrate landward. Recognizing this, we have worked over the last few years as a member of the South Atlantic…
This commentary was originally published in the Post and Courier. By Faith Rivers James, Executive Director of the Coastal Conservation League and Chris DeScherer, S.C. Office Director of the Southern Environmental Law Center Opposition has been expressed recently over the current plans for S.C. Highway 41, referred to as the “compromise alternative” or “road to compromise.” Some of that opposition has focused on environmental impacts of the proposal and, specifically, the wetland impacts it would…
This opinion article was originally published in The Island News By Marie Gibbs In a recent Island Packet exclusive, the new owner of Pine Island stated his intentions to use golf as a “vehicle to empower economic progress” on St. Helena Island. That all sounds fine and well, but here is the catch: golf courses, resorts, and gated communities have been illegal on St. Helena Island since 1999, and they are still illegal today. These land uses are…
