Environmental Groups Threaten to Sue SC, Feds Over Seawalls
Source: Associated Press
Environmental Groups Threaten to Sue SC, Feds Over Seawalls
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS COLUMBIA, S.C. — Jun 18, 2016, 2:10 PM ET
Two environmental groups are threatening to sue South Carolina and the federal government if they don't protect sea turtles from new hard plastic seawalls first installed on beaches a few years ago.
The State newspaper reports (http://bit.ly/1Qd4FvH ) the state Sierra Club and Wildlife Federation sent a notice giving the government 60 days to act.
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control says it is investigating a picture of turtle tracks leading to a wall and other reports the seawalls are blocking turtle nests.
Lawmakers allowed the seawalls as part of an experiment to see if officials could stop erosion and protect turtles.
Isle of Palms Republican Sen. Chip Campsen says the walls were put in heavily eroded areas where the sand is too packed for sea turtle nests.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/environmental-groups-threaten-sue-sc-feds-seawalls-39960580
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Source: The State
JUNE 17, 2016 2:59 PM
Sea turtles suffer as seawalls go up, legal notice says
BY SAMMY FRETWELL
COLUMBIA, SC Rare sea turtles are being blocked from nesting on South Carolina beaches by a new type of seawall that was touted as a way to protect oceanfront buildings from erosion without hurting wildlife, say some coastal landowners and environmental groups.
The S.C. Sierra Club and the S.C. Wildlife Federation sent a notice to federal and state authorities this week threatening to sue if government agencies don’t move to protect sea turtles from the hard plastic seawalls, referred to as wave dissipation devices.
The notice says the government must resolve violations of the federal Endangered Species Act within 60 days or the environmental groups will file suit against the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. The suit would seek to ban future wave dissipation walls and require existing walls to be taken down.
DHEC’s coastal division has allowed the plastic walls on South Carolina beaches at Harbor Island and Isle of Palms as an experiment — but the structures are hurting at least two types of federally protected species that nest in the Palmetto State, according to the legal notice released Friday.
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Read more: http://www.thestate.com/news/local/article84421727.html
