- Angel Oak
The Angel Oak was putting out leaves and dropping acorns for a thousand years before Columbus first stepped on shore. It is the oldest tree east of the Rocky Mountains. For those who have not had the pleasure of visiting the Tree, its grand statute is difficult to comprehend. The main trunk is over 25.5 feet in diameter. Extending out from this trunk are several main branches that are themselves the size of other ancient life oak trees. The branches spread out, sagging to the ground in many spots under their own great weight. In total, the Tree spreads out over 17,100 square feet of earth.
- Arcadia Lakes - Updated
Roper Pond, LLC, owns a 15-acre tract on Trenholm Road in Richland County, bordering on the Town of Arcadia Lakes. Roper Pond proposes a high density apartment complex on the tract. The tract includes a nice shallow pond full of lily pads; the pond is part of the Gills Creek watershed that runs through Arcadia Lakes. The development would excavate the pond to convert it to a stormwater detention pond. DHEC issued a storm water permit to the developer and we appealed.
- Chem Nuclear Landfill - Updated
This is the on-going appeal of the renewal license for the low level radioactive waste landfill near Barnwell. The Chem Nuclear landfill has a convoluted history and is a symbol of SC’s status as the nation’s dumping ground. Opened in 1971, it is one of three low level radioactive waste landfills in the country. It was limited to regional use and slated for closure in 1992 but the closure deadline was extended twice by former Governor Carroll Campbell, and then former Governor David Beasley scrapped the planned closure and opened the facility to the entire nation.
Under a law promoted by former Governor Jim Hodges, it is now limited to waste from the Atlantic Compact states of New Jersey and Connecticut, and a limited amount from other states. - Debidue Groins
SCELP has filed a challenge to a permit issued by DHEC’s Office of Ocean & Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) to Debordieu Colony Community Association (DCCA) authorizing the construction of three groins on Debidue Beach. Groins are erosion control structures constructed perpendicular to the beach, typically in an effort to protect beachfront houses. The proposed Debidue groins would be constructed of an aluminum sheetpile wall, concrete fill and bolstered with granite rock, and would extend approximately 300 feet into the ocean.
- Deerfield - Storm Water & Wetlands - Updated
Deertrack Golf, Inc., owns a golf course in a mature Surfside Beach development known as Deerfield Plantation. Deertrack has entered into a contract to sell the golf course property to Bill Clark Homes. Bill Clark proposes to develop 287 lots on half of the golf course property (the other half will be developed later). The POA’s members are homeowners in a single-family home development that is surrounded by the golf course property. Most of the homes border the golf course. There is a long history of problems with flooding, and it appears that both the golf course and the residential development were built on former wetlands. DHEC/OCRM issued a storm water permit and coastal zone consistency certification for the development project. We have appealed for the POA.
- Eagle Landfill - Updated
MRR Highway 92, LLC was granted a permit to construct a construction and demolition debris (C & D) landfill in Laurens County. We appealed the permit for a citizens group known as EAGLE.
- Greenville Water Systems - Updated
Greenville Water System (GWS) owns and operates two 30 inch raw water transmission mains for the purpose of transporting raw water from the Table Rock Reservoir in the South Saluda River to the GWS treatment plant in northern Greenville County. GWS proposes to construct an additional 7.8 mile 42-inch raw water transmission main from the Table Rock Reservoir in Pickens County. The proposed construction route will cross the South Saluda River, Duck Creek, Matthews Creek, and numerous tributaries to the South Saluda River and Duck Creek for a total of at least 26 total river crossings. The proposed route will also cross three wetland areas associated with Matthews Creek. The construction of the project, according to GWS, will result in the filling of 0.332 acres of wetland and 0.2451 acres of open water. DHEC issued a water quality certification and permit for construction in navigable waters for the project.
- Inlet Point
In the early 1990s, we represented the Georgetown County League of Women Voters in the appeal of a permit for 22 docks for a development at the south tip of Litchfield Beach. We settled the case for reduction to 11 docks and a conservation easement over property south of the development. John L. Irvin #7, LLC, filed this current action claiming ownership of the property covered by our conservation easement. The associations are residents of the development and an adjoining development. We have been allowed to intervene on behalf of the League and the associations.
- Jasper Station
Jasper Station, LLC, owns approximately 80 acres in Jasper County, of which 30 acres are “isolated” wetlands. Because the wetlands are deemed “isolated” by the Corps of Engineers, no Clean Water Act Section 404 permit is required. But a coastal zone consistency certification is required before filling in the 30 acres of isolated wetlands as part of Jasper Station’s stormwater permit.
- Kiawah Island Revetment - Updated
Kiawah Development Partners (KDP) applied for a permit for a 2,750-foot revetment on the Kiawah River at the south end of Kiawah Island. The purpose of the revetment would be to stop erosion and to stabilize the shoreline so that KDP can build a road to develop the narrow spit of land known as Captain Sam’s Spit. OCRM denied most of the request, allowing only a 270-foot revetment along the edge of the parking lot at Beachwalker Park, the only public access on Kiawah. KDP appealed, and we appealed the 270' permit.
- Litchfield Carolina Bay - Updated
Smith Land Company purchased a lot near Litchfield Country Club in Georgetown County. Plats for the lot show a portion of the lot as under water, and Smith Land Company obtained a wetland delineation saying that other portions of the lot were wetlands. The pond and wetlands are part of a Carolina Bay, a unique wetland formation. After deciding that the wetlands and pond are “isolated” and not subject to the jurisdiction of the Corps of Engineers, Smith filled in the wetlands and pond.
- Marlboro County Landfill - Updated
MRR Sandhills, LLC, proposes to build a municipal solid waste landfill on the North Carolina border in Marlboro County. DHEC has issued two preliminary approvals: demonstration of need and consistency with the county solid waste plan.
Marlboro County has appealed both of these approvals and they are pending in the Administrative Law Court. We filed a motion to intervene for Citizens for Marlboro County. Marlboro County ships its garbage to the Lee County Landfill and argues that there is no need for this landfill, and we are supporting the county’s argument.
- Moss
B & M Properties and Kenneth and Angela Moss applied for after-the-fact permits to fill in critical area salt marsh in connection with a bulkhead in Horry County. Moss represented Wayne Hill in our recent SC Supreme Court win where Hill illegally filled in salt marsh when he constructed his bulkhead. The after-the-fact permit was denied by DHEC/OCRM and we filed a motion to intervene to defend the agency’s decision.
- Myrtle Trace - Updated
In 1990 when Myrtle Trace, a community located near Conway, was developed, a buffer area was set aside as a nature preserve, as mitigation for wetlands filled by the developer, International Paper (IP). This land also served as a buffer area between the Myrtle Trace residential development and the Conway Hospital complex. The property was later sold to another developer, Hospital Land Partners Realty, who proposed to develop the 8.5 acre tract of land that was set aside by constructing an assisted living facility. SCELP assisted a neighborhood group in overturning this permit and were successful. DHEC and the Court of Common Pleas ruled that the 1990 set-aside of the land was binding and denied the requested permits.
- Plum Island Expansion
We are challenging a permit that would authorize the construction of 2,150 feet of force main pipe that would carry sewage over critical area salt marsh. The project is part of Charleston Water System's plans to fill in 8 to 10 acres of salt marsh to expand the sewage treatment facility on Plum Island in Charleston County.
- Williamsburg County Landfill
DHEC issued two decisions: (1) modifying the permit for the existing county landfill to raise its annual disposal rate to 400,000 tons per year, and (2) approving a “demonstration of need” for a new landfill also at 400,000 tons per year. We challenged both of these decisions in the Administrative Law Court in August of 2011.
- York Landfill - Updated
C & D Management Company applied for and obtained a permit to construct a construction and demolition waste landfill in the City of Rock Hill. York County and a local resident, Barbara Polk, appealed. Barbara Polk later withdrew as a party and the Nazareth Baptist Church was allowed to intervene to replace Ms. Polk.
SCELP
P.O. Box 1380Pawleys Island, SC 29585
843-527-0078
