Tag: ecoterrorism

Residents protest International Drive delays

The delays on beginning the International Drive project are becoming more and more of a concern to citizens of Carolina Forest and Horry County in general.

The breakdown in talks between Horry County officials and representatives of the Coastal Conservation League and SC Wildlife Federation last week resulted in more meetings among concerned citizens groups in the county.

Normally, the Coastal Conservation League and its allies depend on the support of the average public to be successful in meeting their goals.

The International Drive issue is working exactly the opposite. Regular citizens, all of whom understand the importance of the road for public safety and traffic inner-connectivity, are increasing their protests against the delaying tactics of the conservationists for no real reason.

And, if the environmentalists are not careful, the public outcry against the stalling of International Drive will manifest itself with other projects. This is definitely true if the propensity of the environmentalists to make demands for money, ostensibly to buy land not needed for mitigation on projects, continues.

Tomorrow, a group of citizens from the Carolina Forest and Hwy 90 areas will descend on the offices of the Coastal Conservation League to register a public protest. Read the announcement below:

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Bears, Harbor Dredging and Ecoterrorism

The cries of ecoterrorism seem to be the shrillest when the environmentalist groups have trouble getting what they want.

There was another piece in mainstream media over the weekend crying out about lack of bear tunnels and high fences with regard to the International Drive project.

This came within one week of the decision by a committee of the SCDHEC board voted 3-0 to reject a request for review of the project by the Coastal Conservation League and SC Wildlife Federation. These two environmentalist groups made a last minute appeal July 10, 2015 to stop SCDHEC and the US Army of Corps of Engineers from issuing permits that would have allowed construction on International Drive to go forward.

After a discussion of how political pressure apparently influenced the SC Department of Natural Resources to drop an earlier requirement to include three bear crossing tunnels and higher fences in the International Drive project, the following statement is made about a 2013 agreement between Horry County and SCDNR about the project:

“Horry County also agreed to pay the natural resources agency $122,210, the 2013 agreement shows.”

The inference here is that Horry County paid SCDNR to drop its requirements. Actually, Horry County paid SCDNR the money for a right of way on SCDNR property along the International Drive route. The inference was even stronger in earlier statements and op-ed pieces by staff of the SC Coastal Conservation League.

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International Drive Clears One Hurdle

The International Drive project jumped one hurdle yesterday when a SCDHEC committee rejected another review requested by two environmental groups.

The committee voted 3-0 to reject a request for review of the project by the Coastal Conservation League and SC Wildlife Federation who put in a last minute appeal July 10, 2015 to stop SCDHEC and the US Army of Corps of Engineers from issuing permits that would have allowed construction to go forward.

It is expected an appeal will be filed with the Administrative Law Court within the 30 day required period.

The two environmental groups objected to the elimination of three bear tunnels that had been included in the project at one point and to a four lane instead of a two lane roadway.

At the time, we called this ecoterrorism in the form of delaying the project for as long as possible, a move that has been going on since 2007 in one form or another.

According to sources familiar with the committee deliberations, one SCDHEC board member asked if Horry County and the environmental groups would agree to a compromise of one bear tunnel instead of the three the environmentalists were requesting in an effort to avoid more legal proceedings. Evidently nothing was mentioned regarding two v. four lanes.

An attorney for the environmentalists reportedly called the compromise plan interesting and worth exploring.

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Budgets - Cuts, Spending and You

Ecoterrorism and Public Dollars

Last week I did an article on ecoterrorism causing further delays in the International Drive project.

The form of ecoterrorism I was talking about consists of environmental groups essentially taking the stand ‘submit to our demands or we will delay your project ad infinitum.’

The International Drive project is not unique in the use of this technique.

The environmental groups will tell you they don’t threaten or bully anybody, but the effect appears to produce the same result. And this ecoterrorism is apparently not limited to the specific requirements of a project. It can apparently go well beyond those parameters if the environmental groups desire.

An example is the wetlands mitigation done for the Boeing plant in North Charleston.

General obligation economic development bonds were issued by the state of South Carolina to pay for infrastructure associated with the construction of facilities to ultimately be used by the Boeing assembly line. Included was a $5 million bond for wetland mitigation.

After paying the issuance cost of $250,000, the remaining $4,750,000 of bond proceeds were paid into the account of ACRET (Ashley Cooper River Environmental Trust), a non-profit entity established by the SC Department of Commerce.

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Ecoterrorism Strikes International Drive

It appears that the International Drive completion has been hit with a type of ecoterrorism by two environmental groups opposed to the project.

As we reported over the weekend, the Coastal Conservation League and South Carolina Wildlife Federation appealed the SCDHEC decision to issue permits for the project at the last possible hour.

This attempt of these two groups to put another obstacle in the way of the International Drive project, which is much needed for traffic relief in the Carolina Forest area, appears to be for no other reason than to further delay, delay, delay.

Consider the following definitions from the Merriam Webster Dictionary:

Ecoterrorism is defined as sabotage intended to hinder activities that are considered damaging to the environment.

Sabotage is defined as a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity or corporation through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction.

While the form of ecoterrorism we are talking about is not violent, hindering the building (activities) of International Drive by obstruction through the appeal and possibly court process seems to easily fall within the definitions.

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