By Amy Armstrong, Faith Rivers James and Andrew Wunderley
Originally published in the Post & Courier
Over the past year, our community has come to better understand the way outdated septic tank policies and inaction threaten our health and pollute our waterways. Despite these concerns and pending legal action by our organizations, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control is moving forward with approving more detrimentally placed septic near our waterways, without undertaking the required coastal zone review.
Despite applying similar policies to almost every other type of state and federal environmental permit, DHEC staff do not review septic tank permits in our eight coastal counties for consistency with the state’s Coastal Zone Management Act. This important review requires DHEC to consider the unique conditions of the coastal zone, such as considering whether the permit site is near such important places a a wildlife refuge or the Intracoastal Waterway.
In real time, we are seeing a trifecta of existing septic tank pollution damaging coastal communities, worsening coastal flooding due to sea level rise and extreme weather and DHEC approving dozens of permits for large clusters of septic tanks in ecologically sensitive areas. As the population of South Carolina grows at an unprecedented rate, efforts to accommodate this growth must be balanced with consideration of impacts to our estuaries, from water quality and recreation to marine life and fisheries.
Large-scale developments that are dependent on conventional septic tank systems are being approved near particularly sensitive areas. These approvals raise major health concerns and financial challenges for our communities and our environment.
This threat is imminent. Recently, DHEC approved 44 septic tank permits for the White Tract Development in Awendaw, and more are on the way. The White Tract is within the boundaries of Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge and adjacent to the Francis Marion National Forest. Part of the tract abuts the Intracoastal Waterway and the ecologically sensitive Sewee Bay, which has the state’s highest water quality standard as an Outstanding Resource Water. More than 200 single-family homes are slated to be built in this ecologically sensitive area — some packing houses and septic tanks on lots as small as 3/10th of an acre. DHEC issued these permits without Coastal Management Program review or public notice, which would provide an opportunity for communities to have input and be aware of changes that impact their neighborhoods.
In late 2022, our organizations collectively filed an action in state court to require DHEC to review all septic permits for consistency with the Coastal Management Program, and to publicly notice septic system applications and permits in the coastal zone. This would promote transparency and ensure that agency decisions with broad, long-term impacts are not being made behind closed doors.
While this case is pending, we asked the court to prohibit DHEC from issuing septic permits for dense developments in the coastal zone. It declined, and given the gravity of the potential harm to our waterways, we have asked the court to reconsider.
Subsequently, our organizations have requested that DHEC’s board review the recent staff decision to issue the 44 individual septic tank permits for the White Tract Development.
The policies governing septic tank permitting in the coastal zone need to be reformed at both the local and state levels to fully address the ongoing threat of septic tank pollution in our waterways. In the meantime, we are asking that DHEC provide transparency for the communities that will be left dealing with the consequences of today’s decisions for decades to come.
We are committed to ensuring that the unique ecological value of South Carolina’s coastal zone is fully considered and protected. This requires reviewing septic-dependent developments in the coastal zone for consistency with the Coastal Management Program, and making the public aware when DHEC makes such decisions.
Amy Armstrong is the executive director of the South Carolina Environmental Law Project, Faith Rivers James is the executive director of the Coastal Conservation League, and Andrew Wunderley is the executive director of Charleston Waterkeeper and serves as Charleston’s Waterkeeper.