This case is currently inactive and was archived on 08-10-09.
Briggs-DeLaine-Pearson Connector
SELC files suit to stop destructive and wasteful bridge project
Court Orders SCDOT Officials to Answer for $150 Million Upper Santee Bridge
A federal appeals court refused to dismiss an SELC lawsuit challenging studies by the South Carolina Department of Transportation that endorse the Briggs-DeLaine-Pearson Connector—a $150 million bridge and causeway that would do irreparable harm to the Upper Santee Swamp. In our federal suit, we contend that SCDOT downplayed the project’s environmental impacts and ignored other needed transportation improvements, such as repairing the state’s crumbling roads.
SCDOT argued that it did not have to answer in court for its studies, but on December 5, 2008, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with us and issued an order requiring SCDOT’s executive director to remain a defendant in the case.
"This order holds South Carolina officials accountable for pushing wasteful projects that block funding for needed improvements," said SELC Senior Attorney Blan Holman. "In an age of shrinking budgets, SCDOT needs to forego the fat and serve up lean projects that solve real problems."
The road project would bisect a bottomland hardwood swamp in the upper reaches of Lake Marion that has been a magnet for anglers, paddlers, and other outdoor enthusiasts for generations.
Case Summary
The Southern Environmental Law Center has filed a federal lawsuit to stop a South Carolina bridge project that has been identified as one of America's most wasteful road projects. The controversial Briggs-DeLaine-Pearson Connector would cost $150 million and harm one of the state's most pristine natural areas.
False Promises
The connector would be built near the rural communities of Rimini and Lone Star, and is billed as promising economic development and significantly shorter travel times. Studies have proven that it would bring neither. What the connector would do is destroy more than 15 acres of wetlands directly and disturb far more habitat in the Upper Santee Swamp, one of the last large, intact bottomland hardwood swamps in the region and an area treasured by hunters, anglers and nature lovers.
Wasteful DOT Spending
The bridge project highlights the larger problem in the S.C. Department of Transportation of unnecessary projects getting a green light while identified transportation priorities remain unfunded. The agency is facing a severe financial crisis. Its 20-year plan reflects $57 billion in priorities with only $11 billion to pay for them. Meanwhile, Governor Mark Sanford has called the bridge project "fiscally irresponsible" and SCDOT itself has acknowledged that input during the public involvement process resulted in a "common opinion that the funds for this project would be better spent on other transportation system improvements, or on other needs."
What's Being Done
In 2006, SELC filed a federal suit against the project, contending that SCDOT ignored data showing that the project would not improve local traffic or economic conditions, failed to look at less destructive alternatives, and ignored serious environmental problems. In January 2007, mirroring concerns made by SELC, the state Department of Health and Environmental Control denied a water quality permit for the bridge, dealing a major blow to the project. SCDOT and the Federal Highway Administration nevertheless persist with the project. SCDOT took its case to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which issued a ruling in December 2008, agreeing with SELC that agency officials are accountable in federal court.