Environmental lawyers say county underestimated impact on oysters – Coastal Observer

Environmental lawyers say county underestimated impact on oysters – Coastal Observer

Standing on the shore at Morse Park Landing, Dennis Allen saw something that consultants planning a dredging project for Georgetown County had overlooked: oysters. The popular landing was only one place that the former director of the University of South Carolina’s Baruch Marine Lab found oysters growing at low tide. His observations and those of state and federal agencies prompted the S.C. Environmental Law Project last week to call for regulators to require a more accurate assessment of the project that proposes to dredge over 750,000 cubic yards of sediment from 16.5 miles of creeks and channels. The Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Environmental Services are reviewing the permit request for the project submitted in 2020. The agencies took public comments in 2023, but the law project says the application “misrepresents the true scale of foreseeable detriments and impermissibly narrows the statement of project purpose and need,” Monica Whalen, a staff attorney at the law project, said in a letter to the agencies. Environmental Services is still evaluating the water quality certification for the project and working with the county’s consultants to get more information, a spokeswoman said. The comments from the law project will be included in its review, she added.  The Corps is still evalutating the application, a spokesman for the Charleston District, said.  Comments from the public will “inform its evaluation of the probable impacts of the proposed activity on the public interest,” he said. The county proposes dredging the waterways to make them accessible to boats at all stages of the tide. It wants to dispose of the spoils in the ocean off Huntington Beach State Park, a method that hasn’t been used in the state before. The initial application showed impacts to 71,104 square feet of salt marsh and oyster beds. That was reduced to 41,516 square feet after natural resource agencies raised concerns. “Indeed, the reduction is notable,” Whalen said. But she said that just looking at the proposed dredge sites showed the county had “significantly underestimate” the impact on oysters. Allen told Murrells Inlet residents at a Creek Talk this spring that the proposed dredging of tidal creeks to a depth of 6 feet means that there will be less water circulating and lower water quality. Oysters grow in inter-tidal areas where they are exposed at low tide. “They’re among the most productive ecosystems,” he said. Whalen pointed out that Georgetown County Council recognized their importance in a 2023 proclamation for Estuaries Week. In her letter to regulators, she said the focus of the initial application was too narrow and failed to allow the consideration of reasonable alternatives to dredging to a “navigable depth.” That violates provisions of the federal Clean Water Act, she said. The need for boat access at all stages of the tide was based on historic use of “primary creeks.”  It failed to consider that tidal creeks and man-made canals are shallower, Whalen said. “A reduced dredging footprint will not only avoid impacts to oysters, marsh grass and tidal flats, but could decrease the cost of the project,” she wrote. State Rep. Lee Hewitt, who has helped get state funding for the project, said the state and local commitments are $20 million to $25 million. “I have not been involved with the permitting,” he said, adding that he is scheduled to meet with Amy Armstrong, the executive director of the S.C. Environmental Law Project. “I just want the inlet to continue to function,” he said. “My phone has been ringing off the hook with people that want to get something moving.”