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Call of the Congaree | 1 | 2 | 3
Split-Level Swamp?
Humans like wetlands because they filter and absorb water, providing flood protection for their communities and supporting a plethora of unique plants and animals. But that doesn’t make them a good place to build a home. Try telling that to South Carolina developer Burroughs & Chapin, though. They’ll show you their plans for a 4,600-acre high-tech business park and gated community smack in the middle of the floodplain between Columbia and Congaree Swamp National Monument. Local environmentalists have been battling the proposal for several years because the area’s bottomland hardwood forest is so rare. After the bulldozers leave, the company wants taxpayer-financed levees to protect its new, flood-prone community from the wrath of nearby nature. Last August, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a map indicating that more than half of the developer’s acres were in a floodway, essentially prohibiting development. Determined to fight it out, the developer has sued FEMA, claiming its conclusion was arbitrary. For more information, check out the Web sites of the Sierra Club’s South Carolina Chapter (www.southcarolina.sierraclub.org) and the Southern Environmental Law Center (www.selcga.org/congaree/congaree.shtml).
—Kerry Kennelly
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