WE'VE MOVED OUR WEBSITE

Charleston Waterkeeper has improved our website just a bit... We are now using a "wordpress" format versus the "blogspot" format for our blog; so, if anyone has subscribed to RSS feeds from this site, we appologize for the inconvenience, but you will have to switch feeds to our new site in order to continue receiving post updates. Visit the new website here www.charlestonwaterkeeper.wordpress.com or www.charlestonwaterkeeper.org

Thank you!

Charleston Waterkeeper is on Twitter

Now you can stay updated with everything Charleston Waterkeeper is doing on, in and around our waterways. We have officially joined twitter, a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates. Each of our updates (ranging from blog posts, to pictures taken while patrolling) is displayed on our profile page and delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them. Join twitter today and follow Charleston Waterkeeper's every move (username: ChasWaterkeeper).

Guerrilla Cuisine Event Benefits Charleston Waterkeeper

Charleston Waterkeeper was the chosen charity for Guerrilla Cuisine's final year-end event, held on December 28th. Only a year old, Guerrilla Cuisine provides a unique approach to dining. Each event, held at least monthly, is a collaboration between organizer, venue, farmers, chefs, artists, musicians and a charity. To learn more about Guerrilla Cuisine visit their website.

This event was yet another great opportunity to shed light on the conditions of our waterways while encouraging members of the community to get behind Charleston Waterkeeper. Thank you to all those involved for your support and encouragement of the Waterkeeper mission.

The event was hosted and held at Queen Street Grocery, Charleston's finest organic grocery store. With fresh crepes and organic smoothies made to order, Queen Street Grocery wowed all those in attendance with their quality and creativity. To taste these world famous crepes yourself, visit QSG at 133 Queen Street, downtown Charleston.

Fellow Waterkeepers Visit Coal Ash Spill in TN

On December 22, 2008 5.4 million cubic yards of toxic coal ash broke through an unregulated dam at the Kingston Coal Power Plant in Harriman, TN. Ten years of toxic sludge covered nearly 300 acres of land and water, causing substantial damage to the surrounding areas. The toxic sludge polluted both the Emory and the Clinch Rivers, immediately causing a massive fish kill. Waterkeeper was on the scene of the spill days after it happened and managed to take the footage below.

To see more video or to learn more about the TVA Coal Ash Spill, please visit www.ilovemountains.org.

Friends of the River Propose Ordinance to Protect the Lowcountry

The Beaufort County environmental watchdog organization, Friends of the River, is not slowing down for the holidays. Their job as "watchdog" over the many rivers and estuaries to our south is a 24/7/365 commitment.

The organization is proposing to submit a dock ordinance to state and local officials next month that would apply to rivers classified as "Outstanding Resource Waters." This classification is given by the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) to waters with "exceptional recreational or ecological importance or of unusual value."

In Beaufort County there are four rivers classified as Outstanding Resource Waters: the May, Okatie, Colleton and New rivers. The proposed ordinance would limit the number of community docks at new developments, would require all new developments on the rivers to go through an environmental impact study (EIS), and would require any maintenance on current developments and docks to be subject to public review.

This move by the Friends of the River comes after DHEC approved the Pinckney Point development (which consists of 3 community docks, 30 boat lifts and a boat ramp) without hearing any of the 20 appeals made by the public.

DHEC did however scale the proposed development down a bit; the Pinckney development had originally proposed 76 homes and 70 boat lifts. DHEC found that this development would have significant impact on the quality of the waterways and thus found it to violate the Clean Water Act.

Friends of the River are demanding that DHEC do more to protect the health of our Lowcountry waterways.

Although we agree that a community presence on the water is essential to assuring that our waterways are protected, such a high concentration of activity can adversely affect the health of the entire ecological system. In this instance, the proposed development is located at the headwaters of the Okatie and Colleton rivers and thus would influence the health of both rivers in their entirety.