Coastal Conservation League

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Coastal Conservation League

We advocate to protect the natural environment of South Carolina’s coast for the benefit of all. Help us protect our coast ⬇️

08/21/2026

Please take some time to watch this piece by our friends at SELC. Keep the pressure on data center development and speak up for our environment!

08/20/2026

Decades of work to restore Conway's Crabtree Swamp and protect the community from flooding are at risk.

A developer applied for a permit from the Army Corps and the Department of Environmental Services to fill nearly 5 acres of wetlands along Mill Pond Road for a shopping center, adding substantial impervious surfaces to a flood-prone area. The proposal also includes a potential gas station with underground fuel tanks.

After the swamp was channelized following major floods in the 1960s, erosion and flooding only worsened. The city, county and federal agencies have spent years and significant public funds trying to fix it – and this project threatens to undermine that work.

Now, the City of Conway's Planning Commission is considering a rezoning request before state and federal agencies have made a permitting decision. This hearing gives residents a chance to weigh in and demand more information on the project's environmental impacts.

📆 Thursday, September 3 at 5:30 pm
📍196 Laurel Street, Conway (Planning & Development Conference Room)
📧 Can't attend? Email comments to [email protected]

These wetlands protect neighboring homes, Conway High School and the Waccamaw River. Their safeguarding is our own.

🔗 Learn more and find suggested talking points: scelp.org/news/proposed-rezoning-threatens-crabtree-swamp

📸 1️⃣: The Sherwood community, located downstream of the proposed development site, after Hurricane Florence in 2018. (Photo: Jason Lee/The Sun News. myrtlebeachonline.com/news/local/article239090403.html)
📸 2️⃣: A map of the proposed project footprint. The proposed wetland fill area is shown in dark green.

08/19/2026

The ACE Basin and rural Colleton County need your help fighting data centers once again. You are being left out of the conversation that would determine the fate of the natural landscape of the Lowcountry. Whether you are a resident of Colleton County or someone who enjoys the ACE Basin, sign the petition in our bio now to protect one of our last natural gems.

Colleton County Council proposed a "Digital Infrastructure Overlay" that could allow data center development to be approved without any notice to the public and no public vote by a board or commission, and it's clear Colleton County Council is moving this issue along expeditiously. These underhanded tactics to enable data center development directly contradict the six-month moratorium that they just passed in July.

Tell Colleton County Council that we do not want the "Digital Infrastructure Overlay" being applied in the ACE Basin and our rural areas!

08/17/2026

Today is National Nonprofit Day! It's the day we get to honor not only the work that we are proud to do for you, but the work of our community and the lasting impact that organizations can have for generations.

Thank you for supporting our mission. We are grateful to have a team that can show up every day to challenge the most pressing issues threatening our environment. Whether it's combating irresponsible development, fighting data centers, advocating for clean air and water, reducing plastic pollution on our shorelines, protecting wetlands, or keeping farmers on their land, we are in the community every day to make our coast a place that everyone can enjoy.

Be a part of our journey in conserving the Lowcountry.

08/13/2026

We need your help to support the amended plastic ordinance in North Myrtle Beach!

The North Myrtle Beach City Council will have a reading of the amended plastic ordinance that would close the loophole that has allowed for the distribution of thicker plastic bags labeled as "reusable." This amended ordinance would strengthen the bag ban and help reduce plastic pollution along our coast.

Attend the meeting on Monday, August 17 at 6:00 p.m. to voice your support and close the loophole.

08/10/2026

Even though summer is coming to a close, our beaches still need your help!

We are back with another volunteer opportunity in the Myrtle Beach area on Friday, August 14! Bring your friends and family, and we'll bring the cleanup supplies to show our beaches some love. There will be free parking inside the parking garage by the pier.

See you there!

07/31/2026

This is the longest free-flowing blackwater river in the country, and it is at risk of being irreversibly damaged by a proposed gas pipeline.

The Edisto River is a natural gem of the Lowcountry. This 310-mile river meanders across South Carolina and is represented as the “E” in the treasured “ACE” Basin. Composed of the Ashepoo, Combahee, and Edisto Rivers, the ACE Basin is one of the largest relatively undeveloped estuaries along the Atlantic Coast. It is an invaluable natural and cultural resource, and it has stood the test of time as a flagship success story for conservation efforts in our state. Now, with growing data center development pressure, it is more at risk than ever.

Despite its rich value to our natural landscape, there are plans underway to run a 71-mile gas pipeline through the ACE Basin. Kinder Morgan’s Elba Bridge pipeline project would extend from Screven County, Georgia, run under the Savannah River and cut through public, private, and protected land in the ACE Basin before reaching a massive gas-fired power plant under development on the Edisto River in Colleton County. Proponents say that the Canadys gas plant is needed to power new AI data centers, but Lowcountry communities have been fighting back. The plant was approved by the S.C. Public Service Commission in May, but the fight isn't over.

The gas plant still needs to obtain permits from the S.C. Department of Environmental Services. Additionally, the Elba Bridge pipeline will need to obtain approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Stay tuned for upcoming opportunities to voice your concerns to regulators.

If these plans go forward, the pipeline and power plant could anchor a major industrialization of the ACE Basin, with the potential for the pipeline to be expanded to move four times the amount of gas needed for the power plant. We cannot afford to compromise the ecological integrity of this special place. So, we are stepping up to fight. We need you to be part of the fight, too.

Thank you for helping to protect our coast.

07/25/2026

We're not done fighting for the ACE Basin.

After the Administrative Law Court ruled in favor of a developer seeking to build a private vehicular bridge to a coastal island near Meggett, we filed a motion to reconsider. When that was denied, we filed an appeal.

Today, we are also filing a request to stay (or pause) Judge Anderson's order while the appeal proceeds. Without it, the Department of Environmental Services must continue processing – and potentially issue – a bridge permit for the project even while the court considers our appeal. Allowing that to happen would defeat the purpose of appealing altogether.

The ruling we are challenging found that the ACE Basin Taskforce Boundary Area's borders were not clearly documented enough to determine whether the property falls within that protected region – despite unchallenged, long-standing GIS data and direct testimony supporting the boundary's location, which has remained unchanged since 2004 when the federal government adopted it.

The ACE Basin's protections exist for a reason. We intend to make sure they hold.

🔗 Learn more about the case: scelp.org/cases/bay-light-bridge

07/15/2026

Our hearts and trash bags are so full! We are so thankful for everyone who joined us at our Plastic-Free July Cleanup on Folly Beach. We want to give a special shoutout to Easy Honey, Charleston Waterkeeper, and Coastal Expeditions for making this all come together.

We collected 42 trash bags full of litter from the beach, accesses, and the roads around Folly Beach! We could not do this without all of the amazing volunteers who spent the time making our planet a cleaner place. We cannot wait to do it again!

07/14/2026

Horry County wants to hear from you on July 16th, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. for a public input meeting. Staff from the County’s Planning and Zoning Department will be on hand to answer questions about the proposed Industrial Corridor Land Use addition to the Horry County Comprehensive Plan.

Your input can help to shape this planning process, but you have to take action. Designating industrial corridors in rural areas could hurt the same residents who have not had a chance to raise concerns or question to the Planning Commission. Industrial development in these areas could wipe out farmland; pollute soil, air, and water; add noise and light pollution; worsen traffic congestion; and damage wildlife habit and quality of life.

Show up to learn more and ask your questions. Horry County needs to hear from residents like you to decide where industry goes next.

Address

131 Spring Street
Charleston, SC
29401

Telephone

+18437238035

Website

https://www.coastalconservationleague.org/, https://act.selc.org/page/93636/action/1?ea.tracking.id=prt&emci=a83d7c61-27

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