Strategic priority

Stop the degradation of essential natural systems

South Carolina residents and visitors alike appreciate and value our beaches, mountains, and the unfettered flow of our rivers. They marvel at the hundreds of thousands of acres of wild spaces, including barrier islands, ridges, rolling hills, estuaries, cypress swamps, and upland forests. Yet it takes constant vigilance to protect these life-sustaining natural systems, especially at a time when population growth and the climate crisis are exacerbating the impact of harmful projects and polluting activities

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Natural Systems Cases & Issues

Trestle Run

Active

2023

We are working with the Merriwether Community Coalition in Edgefield County to protect its members’ interests in the face of a proposed development with the potential to negatively impact the community’s rural quality of life, existing County infrastructure and services, and the health of the environment.

McClellanville Sand Mine

Active

2023

Earlier this year, the Charleston County Board of Zoning Appeals denied a Special Exception Permit for a proposed sand mine near the intersection of U.S. Highway 17 and Lofton Road in McClellanville. Blessing Investments then sued the Board for denying the project. Now, on behalf of Coastal Conservation League and Friends of Coastal South Carolina, SCELP filed a Motion to Intervene to protect their member's interests in the action.

Seabrook Sand Scraping

Active

2023

In 2023, Seabrook Island Property Owners Association received approval for a permit for a sand scraping project, to mine sand from the intertidal beach between central Seabrook Island and Captain Sams Inlet and transfer the sand further south near Seabrook Island Beach Club. Coastal Conservation League is challenging the permit.

Port Royal Trees

Closed

2022

Two landmark live oak trees, one 60 inches in diameter and one 43 inches in diameter, and both estimated to be nearly 200 years old, were under threat by developers attempting to clear the land for five homes in Port Royal.

Point Farm

Closed

2022

We are representing our clients in challenging a DHEC permit authorizing dredging and excavating critical area salt marsh in order to convert a unique and highly valuable freshwater pond and wetland system into a saltwater mitigation bank.

Debidue Sandbags

Active

2022

The Department of Health and Environmental Control allowed four beachfront property owners leave an illegal sandbag seawall on the public beach as a so-called experiment. We are seeking both state and federal relief on behalf of the Coastal Conservation League.

The True Cost of Mining

Active

2018

South Carolina’s natural environment and the health of human and wildlife communities that it supports are threatened by land use decisions every day. On the issue of mining, we see and feel the increased need for lawyers willing and able to stand up for the wild side.

Captain Sams Spit

Active

2008

For 15 years and counting, SCELP and our partners have relentlessly—and successfully—fought back against a developer's efforts to build 50 houses on this fragile and iconic sandy inlet on Kiawah Island.

Bay Point Island

Active

2020

Since 2016, developers have attempted to build a luxury resort on Bay Point Island, a biologically rich barrier island at the mouth of Port Royal Sound. The plan includes 50 villas, shops, restaurants, bars, spas and fitness centers, along with 10 septic systems.

Greenville County Rural Land

Active

2020

Perhaps more than anywhere else in the state, suburban sprawl into rural and agricultural lands is plaguing Greenville County, not just in terms of environmental quality but also in terms of overall quality of life. We have been working with citizens groups in the southern and northern parts of the County, and we are now in court on their behalf.