Bucksport

Building a Resilient Bucksport

The Conservation League has joined a coalition of environmental, social, and academic representatives working with the Bucksport community to address a host of issues facing the residents, from recurring flood events to economic empowerment and cultural preservation. The coalition was awarded a grant for a rain garden initiative to increase rainwater absorption. The coalition is also exploring alternatives to a proposed project to elevate an unpaved road by eight feet, install three new 36-inch culverts, and dig a canal to connect the Pee Dee and Waccamaw River basins, due to concerns over potential unintended consequences of the proposal. The SC Office of Resilience held a public meeting in December 2022 with Horry County and engineering firm Thomas & Hutton to present the proposed Big Bull Landing flood mitigation project to the community. The engineers displayed maps with their projections for how the elevated road and culverts would reduce flooding to the main part of Bucksport under the conditions of Hurricanes Joaquin and Matthew, and the 2021 flooding. They acknowledged that it would not prevent flooding in a Hurricane Florence scenario. Residents came away from the meeting with more questions and another meeting with the Association for the Betterment of Bucksport is planned.

Bucksport Marina

The Bucksport Marina on the Waccamaw River in southern Horry County is a community marina owned by the Grand Strand Water & Sewer Authority in cooperation with Santee Cooper, the state-owned utility, and the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation. The marina currently is used by boaters, campers, fishermen, and the local Bucksport community. 

In late 2013, Grand Strand Water & Sewer applied for a permit to construct an industrial marine commerce facility on the site and dredge in the Waccamaw River. The proposed industrial marina is speculative as no specific occupants have been named. The permit application says the facility is intended to support water dependent uses like boat building, boat building services and cargo operations. Such a facility on the Waccamaw, adjacent
 to the Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge, could negatively impact the river with pollutants, threaten wildlife habitat, fill the area’s two-lane roads with trucks and threaten the health of Bucksport residents. 

The Coastal Conservation League has joined with the Waccamaw Riverkeeper, the Bucksport community, the South Carolina Environmental Law Project and other organizations to oppose this proposed industrial marina that has no demonstrated need.