A letter from Dana Beach about Captain Sams Spit

In an email dated May 31, 2015, Dana Beach, Executive Director of the Coastal Conservation League, wrote:

Folks,

If you aren’t confused by what is going on with Captain Sams (no apostrophe) Spit, then you haven’t been paying attention.

The latest news flash on the proposal to develop the sand bar on the western end of Kiawah Island is that the state has issued a permit for a sea wall. It is essentially like the one the Kiawah developers applied for some years ago. The first permit request was blocked by an SC Supreme Court ruling, (the third time that court had heard the case), last fall.

Shortly afterwards, the developers applied again, but this time they moved the wall inland. Same wall, same purpose, same effect — just feet inland from the marsh and covered, initially, by sand. The state environmental agency has decided that the project is, somehow, fundamentally different in its impact. We disagree, as does the Post and Courier editorial. The South Carolina Environmental Law Project has appealed the approval on our behalf. If history is any guide, this next round of legal action will play out over the next few years.