FOCUS: Take a walk on the wild side with SCELP

Copyrighted photo by Andy Brack.

By Amy Armstrong, special to Charleston Currents  |  Almost 30 years ago, Jimmy Chandler set off for what he imagined to be a temporary phase of his legal career: the South Carolina Environmental Law Project (SCELP).  A proposed oil refinery in Georgetown and impoundment of tidal marshes spurred him to focus his legal effort on protecting our natural environment.

Armstrong

He was joined and supported by the leadership at the Energy Research Foundation in Columbia, which “hosted” the organization for about nine years and until the Project became a public charity on its own. By then, the idea of moving back to private practice had already faded into the background as new challenges and emergencies kept cropping up after each new victory inside and outside the courts.

Within the ecosystem of public charities, SCELP inhabits the highly-specialized niche of public interest law firms.  These “PILFs” are bestowed tax exemption status and related benefits because they provide affordable and free services for the greater good of the public, most often in the realm of environmental protection. If a sufficient commercial or financial interest in the outcome of the litigation justifies retention of a private law firm, public interest lawyers must not take a case. IRS requirements aside, one can rest assured about the private sector’s efficiency at ensuring that no money-making case is left “unlawyered.” However, natural resources need a legal advocate even when no profit is to be made out of their protection. SCELP must therefore rely primarily on charitable contributions to stay in business and be that advocate.

Over the years, we have refined our business model by focusing on two key objectives:

• Meeting the increasing demand from groups and concerned citizens for quality environmental legal services, and
• Ensuring thorough implementation and enforcement of our environmental laws.

With our expert advice, we empower citizens’ groups (and at times local governments and environmental organizations like the Coastal Conservation League and Upstate Forever, the Sierra Club and Wildlife Federation, while at the same time spurring our decision-makers and regulators to account for the relationship between environmental regulation, environmental quality, and quality of life.

We favor settling issues amicably and out of court with mutually-agreed-upon solutions.  But when litigation is unavoidable, SCELP has provided experienced counsel for three decades to fight for clean air and water, conservation of wildlife and natural systems, and protection of healthy communities. Through our extensive permit monitoring system, we review applications, submit written comments, attend and comment at public hearings, and track problematic decisions across the state.

A key challenge on the horizon is expanding the scope and reach of our legal arguments and actions to encompass climate change adaptation, building on the prevention and mitigation work we have traditionally done. This will likely require engaging with new issues and constituencies, broadly captured by the “environmental justice” label. A broader narrative will underpin our work, acknowledging the system analysis imposed by climate change as well as the urgency and scale of the challenges at hand.

In the summer of 2010, Jimmy Chandler prematurely passed away.  Since then, we have gathered in the fall to honor his legacy and the continuing success and relevance of our work. This year, the 7th Wild Side event will once again be held at Hobcaw Barony, overlooking Winyah Bay in Georgetown, where Jimmy set up SCELP’s very first office in a room made available by the USC Baruch Marine Laboratory.  On October 8, many friends and Wild Side advocates will celebrate our work in defense of South Carolina’s natural environment and quality of life. I hope that you will consider joining us or otherwise engage with our efforts.

Attorney Amy Armstrong is executive director of the South Carolina Environmental Law Project, a statewide environmental initiative headquartered in Georgetown County.