On March 12, 2014, the SouthCarolina Supreme Court handeddown a unanimous decision that

protects citizens from unneeded, unneces-sary and excessive landfills. The decisiveopinion overturned a ruling from the Courtof Appeals concluding that the court mustdefer to the S.C. Department of Health andEnvironmental Control’s (“DHEC”) deter-mination on the question of whether alandfill company made a “demonstration ofneed” for the new facility, as required understate law. DHEC’s practice has been to usea “circle test” – plotting the location of theproposed landfill on a map and then draw-ing a 10-mile radius circle around thatpoint. If there are less than two landfillswithin the circle, then DHEC concludesthat the landfill is “needed.”

Fortunately the Supreme Court agreedwith us that the statutory requirement fora “demonstration of need” means thatDHEC should look at the existing wastegeneration rates and existing capacity to de-termine if there truly is a need for a newlandfill. The Court agreed that the permitfor the new landfill should be denied be-cause there is sufficient capacity to handlethe waste disposal needs of the region.

SCELP The South Carolina Environmental Law ProjectLawyers for the Wild Side of South Carolina

The landfill at issue in this case was pro-posed by MRR Highway 92, LLC, a NorthCarolina company, and would have been lo-cated in the town of Gray Court, a smallcommunity in Laurens County. SCELP rep-resented an ad hoc group called Engagingand Guarding Laurens County’s Environ-ment (“EAGLE”) in the case. The proposedlandfill would have accepted up to 254,000tons of waste annually in a County that onlygenerates 12,000 tons of waste annually.

When SCELP began our representationof EAGLE, we had two fierce and forcefuladvocates fighting this battle. Two men thatstarted their own organizations aimed at pro-tecting our State’s environment – our ownJimmy Chandler and Jeff Nichols, whofounded EAGLE. Jimmy and Jeff investedcountless hours in preparing this case, andthough they are no longer with us to share incelebrating this victory, it isa success thatwould not have been possible without theirpassion, dedication and commitment.

Summer 2014Inside this Issue

SCELP SCORES MAJOR VICTORY IN LANDFILL BATTLE

Major Victory in Landfill Battle

Board Members

NEW CASE

Captain Sams SpitCommunity Gathering

Legislative Update

CASE UPDATEJelly Ball Project

1

2

3

4

6

7

ScelpSummer2014_Layout 1 5/22/14 2:45 PM Page 1

SCELPSouth CarolinaEnvironmental Law Project, Inc.(a 501c3 tax-exempt non-profit corporation)

Mission StatementTo protect the natural environment of South Carolina by providing legal services and advice to environmental organizations and concerned citizens and by improving the state’s system of environmental regulation.

Board of DirectorsFrances Close, Chair

John Mark DeanJosh EagleMargaret D. FabriDr. Paula FeldmanGary W. PoliakoffLeon RiceRobert SchofieldGreg VanDerwerkerNancy VinsonWendy Zara

StaffAmy E. Armstrong, PresidentMichael G. Corley, Staff AttorneyJessie A. White, Staff AttorneyPhyllis A. Nisoff, Office Manager

Office address430 Highmarket StreetGeorgetown, SC 29440

Mailing addressP. O. Box 1380Pawleys Island, SC 29585Telephone: (843) 527-0078FAX: (843) 527-0540Website: www.scelp.org

Greg VanDerwerker

Born in Kentucky; raised in Connecticut; educated and trainedin Vermont, Georgia, Ohio and North Carolina; and a medicalpractitioner in Greenwood, South Carolina until his retirementin 2005, Dr. Vanderwerker is now happily settled with his family on Kiawah Island.

Since moving to Kiawah Island, Greg has been active volunteer-ing with numerous organizations including Sea Island Habitatfor Humanity, Kiawah Island Naturalist Group, and the CoastalConservation League. He is married to Laura and the father oftwo grown daughters. In addition to the many outdoor recre-ational activities he enjoys, Greg spends his time cooking delec-table dishes and cultivating gourmet pastries and desserts.

SCELP was fortunate to have Dr. VanDerwerker join our Boardin January 2014. He has served as a critical witness in two ofour cases seeking to protect Captain Sams Spit on Kiawah Islandand contributed greatly toward making our recent event on Ki-awah a huge success. Thank you for being part of the SCELPteam, Greg!

Josh Eagle

SCELP is pleased to have Professor Josh Eagle rejoin the ranksof our Board of Directors. Josh’s time on our board was inter-rupted by a prestigious Fulbright Award, which sent him toNorthern Ireland, and a stint as a visiting professor at the Uni-versity of North Carolina School of Law. Now that Josh is backas the University of South Carolina’s Solomon Blatt Professor ofLaw, we could not be happier to have him once again affiliatedwith SCELP.

Professor Eagle teaches courses in property law, environmentallaw, natural resources law, and ocean and coastal law. His acco-lades and appointments are too numerous to mention, but suf-ficed to say that Josh plays an active role in setting coastal policyon both a state and national level. We know from experiencethat Josh’s legal expertise serves a vital function on the SCELPBoard. Thank you, Josh, for your service!

NEW BOARD MEMBERS

How you can help…You help us continue our work with your contributions.Please log on to our website www.scelp.org to donateon-line or use the enclosed envelope to mail your gift.

LIKE US ON

2 SUMMER 2014

ScelpSummer2014_Layout 1 5/22/14 2:45 PM Page 2

Over the last several years, SCELP has seen many unnecessary, environmentallytroubling landfill proposals. But even we were surprised by the recent proposalto expand Oakridge Landfill. Waste Management proposes to expand this “class

3” landfill, located along the Berkeley-Dorchester county line, by filling 14 acres of highlyvaluable wetlands. The wetlands that would be filled are immediately adjacent to FrancisBeidler Forest and Four Holes Swamp, and provide important ecological benefits for thesevital areas. Beidler Forest is a 16,500+ acre forested wetland reserve and National AudubonSociety wildlife sanctuary located in Four Holes Swamp. It is a nationally and internationallyrecognized old growth swamp forest that has received numerous distinctions.

DHEC has granted Waste Management a permit for this work, despite the clear commandunder South Carolina law that: “The location of [ ] landfill sites in salt, brackish or fresh-water wetlands will not be approved unless no alternative exists and an overwhelmingpublic need can be demonstrated.” South Carolina already has enough existing “class 3”landfill capacity to last for the next 33 years. We do not believe that our State has any publicneed for yet another landfill, particularly in the middle of one of our most important eco-logical areas. We are challenging DHEC’s decision in the Administrative Law Court.

NEW CASE Oakridge Landfill

Waste Management proposesto expand this “class 3” landfill, located along theBerkeley-Dorchester countyline, by filling 14 acres ofhighly valuable wetlands.

3 SUMMER 2014

ScelpSummer2014_Layout 1 5/22/14 2:45 PM Page 3

On May 4, 2014, over 200 peoplegathered on the Kiawah River fora boat and kayak trip to Captain

Sams Spit. Without a cloud in the sky nat-uralist, biologist and educator PatrickMcMillan shared his knowledge of theabundant wildlife and diverse habitatsfound on the Spit. As Patrick was speakinga f lock of 1,000 red knots, currently pro-posed as Threatened under the EndangeredSpecies Act, f lew overhead. Oyster catchers,Least terns, Royal terns, Osprey and a Baldeagle were also observed by many.

Dr. Michael Dorcas from Davidson Col-lege also joined us to talk about the dia-mondback terrapins – the only turtlespecies that lives and breeds in salt marshes.The terrapins use the banks along theKiawah River for nesting that would be for-ever lost if the Spit is developed.

The trip was organized in an effort toeducate people about the important naturalresource functions and values of CaptainSams Spit – one of only three barrier islandspits in S.C. with public access – and tosupport our current efforts to protect theSpit from an ill-suited development pro-posal. We are still awaiting two criticaldecisions related to the proposed develop-ment. One is a decision from the S.C.Supreme Court over whether the developercan construct a half-mile long concrete wallalong the banks of the river and the otheris whether the developer or the HOA ownsa 4.62 acre parcel of land that is critical todevelopment of the Spit.

COMMUNITYGATHERS TO APPRECIATECAPTAINSAMS SPIT

The outing was made possible by a number of advocates whocontributed their time and resources to making it a success. A special thanks to Sidi Limehouse,Louise Bennett, Jake Feary, Captain Mike Albenesius, Kathy Sherman, Linda Leffler, Paula Feldman, Peter Mugglestoneand Greg VanDerwerker.

4 SUMMER 2014

ScelpSummer2014_Layout 1 5/22/14 2:45 PM Page 4

Clockwise from top left: Shovels and Rope; SCELP Staff;Viewing Red Knots; Kayaking; Lunch at Sidi and Louise.

--- 5SUMMER 2014

ScelpSummer2014_Layout 1 5/22/14 2:45 PM Page 5

LEGISLATIVEUPDATESCELP attorneys advise our clients on theimpacts of proposed legislation and testifybefore the House and Senate on importantenvironmental legislation. This year wehave been working hard to protect the in-tegrity of our Beachfront Management Act.The Act was passed in 1988 after the 1987Blue Ribbon Panel, appointed to assess ourshoreline, recognized the detrimental im-pacts that human actions can have on ourbeaches and made recommendations to ourlegislators to protect our shoreline.

More recently, DHEC commenced asecond Blue Ribbon Committee to studyour shoreline and make recommendationsto improve our existing coastal laws. In2013 that Committee made a number of

powerful and encouraging recommenda-tions, which were incorporated into a Sen-ate bill, S. 890; however, the legislature hasnow taken a sledgehammer and chainsawto that Committee’s compromise throughamendments to the bill. These destructiveamendments propose to exempt Debor-dieu from the ban on seawalls on thebeach; to allow the use of untested “wavedissipation devices” on our beaches; and toeliminate a provision that would preventbeachfront development from encroachingcloser to the ocean.

SCELP Board Members Frances Close,who served on the 1987 Blue RibbonPanel, and Paula Feldman spoke at a recentpress conference against the amendments

that would erode and undermine the in-tegrity of our beachfront protection laws.SCELP is committed to fight the ill-con-ceived special interest legislation that hasdisplaced the critically important recom-mendations of the Blue Ribbon Committee.

Clockwise from top left:?????

6 SUMMER 2014

ScelpSummer2014_Layout 1 5/22/14 2:45 PM Page 6

Our appeal of the permit issued by S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control’s Office of Coastal Resource Manage-ment (DHEC/OCRM) to the S.C. State Ports Authority (SPA) to allow construction of new and expanded cruise ship operationsat the Union Pier Terminal in downtown Charleston is now in the hands of the Court of Appeals. On April 21, 2014, following

an order granting summary judgment in the Administrative Law Court, SCELP filed with the Court of Appeals on behalf of the sevencommunity groups that it represents challenging that order by Judge Anderson, among others. Over the next couple of months, we willbe filing our appellate briefs.

CASE UPDATEUnion Pier

Most of us have made use of ourState’s winding salt marsh creeksfor a variety of enjoyable activi-

ties. Maybe you have you enjoyed birding,fishing, paddling or even harvesting oystersin this picturesque setting. One use thatdoesn’t come to mind in this valuablemarsh is the mass-dumping of industrialwaste. Unbelievably, this is the exactproposal currently pending before DHECfor consideration.

A company has proposed South Car-olina’s first jellyfish harvesting and process-ing operation in rural Beaufort County.These “jelly balls” are processed through adrying and brining operation that produceslarge amounts of water with high salinity,low pH, chemical pollutants and toxic jel-lyfish byproduct. The company plans todump this water, untreated, into a narrow,tidal salt marsh creek by way of a large dif-fuser pipe.

Needless to say, this proposal has gener-ated a significant amount of opposition,particularly from those who make their liv-ing on the shrimp, oysters and fish that de-pend on healthy salt marsh habitat. SCELPhas been involved in tracking and opposingthe permit applications for this project andhas already commented at a public hearingand written comment letters to the permit-ting agencies. We will continue to followthis proposal and to take whatever stepsnecessary to protect the people and re-sources of Beaufort County

JELLY BALL FACILITY THREATENS SALT MARSHAND MARINE LIFE

These “jelly balls” are processedthrough a drying and brining operation that produces largeamounts of water with high salinity,low pH, chemical pollutants andtoxic jellyfish byproduct.

7SUMMER 2014

ScelpSummer2014_Layout 1 5/22/14 2:45 PM Page 7

SCELPP. O. Box 1380Pawleys Island, SC 29585

5th Annual Wild Side EventSaturday, October 25, 2014

Please save the date for our 5th Annual Wild Side Event scheduled for Saturday, October 25, 2014.The event will again be at the Hobcaw House on the Baruch Foundation Property in Georgetown, SC.ETV’s Walter Edgar will be our guest this year, enlightening us about South Carolina’s natural history.

We will have a scrumptious dinner catered by Bistro 217; a silent auction and live music. For our sponsorswe will have tours of the Hobcaw House; a walking tour with Walter Edgar; and a boat tour of Winyah Bay.

We hope you can join us for this fun celebration!

ScelpSummer2014_Layout 1 5/22/14 2:45 PM Page 8