Professional Documents
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South Carolina Environmental Law Project • P. O. Box 1380 • Pawleys Island, S. C. 29585 • 843-527-0078
December 2002
T
his year marks the 15th Amy Armstrong joins SCELP Under Attack
anniversary of the begin-
ning of the South Caro- After 15 years, SCELP has (Continued from page 1)
lina Environmental Law Project. added a second attorney. This waiting on an appeal hearing
It’s been another challenging September, Amy Armstrong date.
year. We don’t have big wins to joined SCELP through a two year The third case involves a pro-
brag about this year, but I’m still fellowship funded by Equal Jus- posal to build an oceanfront sea-
proud of the work we’ve done. tice Works. The organization wall to protect houses on
We’ve helped Beaufort County and provides fellowships to attor- Daufuskie Island. In March 2002,
the state defend legal challenges neys working on specific pro- a developer and several property
to environmental protection laws. jects in all areas of public inter- owners sued DHEC, asking the
We’ve continued to meet the est law throughout the country. state court to allow construction
state’s need for public interest Amy’s project involves an in- of a seawall, and also asking for a
environmental legal services. tense effort to use legal proc- declaration that the SC Beachfront
I’m pleased to report that we’ve esses, public advocacy and the Management Act is unconstitu-
recovered from the August 2001 collaboration of local and state- tional. After a hearing on the in-
fire that destroyed our office and wide citizens groups to improve junction motion, a state court
disrupted our work. We moved South Carolina’s coastal man- judge issued an order allowing
back into the newly-rebuilt offices agement system. Looking for- the seawall to be built. DHEC has
in May, after months of recovery ward to working together to appealed that ruling to the SC
and catching up. protect South Carolina’s coastal Court of Appeals. SCELP has
We’ve also grown again. SCELP resources, both Amy and SCELP moved to intervene on behalf of 4
was a one-man operation from are thrilled to have this opportu- groups to defend the Act and the
1988 to 1999. We added Kathy nity. public beaches, and we also plan
Thomas in 1999 as Assistant to to file a “friend of the court” brief
Amy graduated from Univer-
the Director. This year, Amy Arm- in the appeal.
sity of Michigan in 1992 and
stong joined us as staff attorney
worked for the S.C. Department
and Equal Justice Works Fellow.
of Natural Resources for three Board News
Our growth will allow us to bet-
years before attending law
ter respond to threats to our envi- Bill Duncan joins Board
ronment, which are relentless. school at the University of South
With tough budget times, state Carolina. She earned her J.D.
and Master’s in Earth and Envi- We are pleased to announce the
and federal agencies are cutting newest member of our Board is
back on environmental enforce- ronmental Resource Manage-
ment in May, 2002, and was ad- Bill Duncan. Bill lives in Murrells
ment. Private groups like SCELP Inlet and practices law in George-
must stay ever vigilant to fill the mitted into the South Carolina
town. A former Park Ranger, Bill
gaps with citizen enforcement. Bar in November, 2002. Amy
earned a degree in Resource De-
We’re working hard to meet this says that she is “excited to be at
velopment from Michigan State
challenge. SCELP and looking forward to
University.
Jimmy Chandler learning more about the prac-
When we asked Bill to explain to
tice of environmental law.”
our supporters why he is inter-
ested in protecting our environ-
ment he responded, “My under-
graduate area of study centered on
the principle that regardless of the
intended use of the land, every
change has unintended conse-
quences, and we must always look
at ways to minimize man’s impact
on the land as we use it. As an
avid fisherman, I am deeply con-
cerned with near and offshore wa-
ter quality and habitat.”
“As a lawyer, I have had an op-
portunity to familiarize myself with
Jimmy Chandler’s legal work and
find his ability and enthusiasm for
practicing law exceptional.”
SC Environmental Law Project Page 2
In 1977, the South Carolina and enforcement of the state’s lands. Since this decline in effec-
Coastal Tidelands and Wetlands Act Coastal Management Program. tive management, South Carolina’s
was passed with the goal of pro- The project will look at the coastal zone is an area in critical
tecting our coastal environment agency’s successes and failures in need of protection.
and promoting economic and social fulfilling the Coastal Management The coastal zone of the state is
improvement of the coastal zone. Program’s goals and educate the extremely sensitive to developmen-
Twenty-five years later, it is time to public on the level of enforce- tal impacts and although South
take a look at the effectiveness of ment of the program and the Carolina has some of the strongest
the state’s Coastal Management need for adequate enforcement. coastal protection laws, the prob-
Program run by DHEC’s Office of Six years after government re- lem lies with inefficient and im-
Ocean and Coastal Resource Man- structuring of state environmental proper implementation of these
agement (OCRM). management programs, South laws. After a series of poor deci-
In celebration of the 25th anniver- Carolina’s coastal zone manage- sions, resulting in a series of legal
sary, the agency is performing their ment program has seriously de- opinions finding OCRM in violation
own review of the program. clined and is failing to protect the of its own regulations, it is time to
SCELP’s newest attorney, Amy Arm- public interest. This decline is work towards the Act’s goal of pro-
strong, through a fellowship with evidenced by, among other tecting our coastal environment
Equal Justice Works, is working to things, the proliferation of docks, and promoting economic and social
provide an independent review and bridges to small islands, and improvement of the coastal zone.
to educate South Carolinians about coastal development patterns
OCRM’s level of implementation along with the loss of natural wet-
Jimmy Chandler, Pawleys Island ~ Frances Close, Columbia ~ William S. Duncan, Murrells Inlet
Daryl Hawkins, Columbia ~ Trish Jerman, Columbia ~ Linda Ketron, Pawleys Island
Bill Marscher, Hilton Head Island ~ Virginia Prevost, McClellanville ~ T. S. (Sandy) Stern, Jr., Greenville
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