Press Release | April 14, 2014

Statement on State Ruling in Charleston Cruise Ship Terminal Case

Statement from Blan Holman, Senior Attorney, Southern Environmental Law

CHARLESTON, S.C.–“The decision is a wrong and dramatic departure from legal decisions recognizing that people have the right to challenge unlawful pollution. We’re talking with our clients about an immediate appeal to restore the rights of South Carolinians to curb pollution that harms their health.

“The court went so far as to say that a citizen who lives next door to a pollution source and literally sees and tastes the diesel soot pollution has no right to defend herself and others from increased pollution. That is a shocking departure from existing law and would leave families completely at the mercy of big polluters.”

“The court theorized that building a $35 million terminal designed to home-base much larger cruise ships won't lead to larger cruise ships coming there. That defies common sense and presumes our state ports authority just wants to waste millions in public money.”

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About the Southern Environmental Law Center: The Southern Environmental Law Center is a regional nonprofit using the power of the law to protect the health and environment of the Southeast (Virginia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama). Founded in 1986, SELC's team of nearly 60 legal and policy experts represent more than 100 partner groups on issues of climate change and energy, air and water quality, forests, the coast and wetlands, transportation, and land use. www.SouthernEnvironment.org

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The Southern Environmental Law Center is one of the nation’s most powerful defenders of the environment, rooted in the South. With a long track record, SELC takes on the toughest environmental challenges in court, in government, and in our communities to protect our region’s air, water, climate, wildlife, lands, and people. Nonprofit and nonpartisan, the organization has a staff of 200, including more than 120 legal and policy experts, and is headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., with offices in Asheville, Atlanta, Birmingham, Chapel Hill, Charleston, Nashville, Richmond, and Washington, D.C.

southernenvironment.org

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