Volume 3 Issue 16

December 14, 2007

Lettitor
By Heather Holbrook

     Having recently visited Disneyland in Anaheim, California, I found the Happiest Place on Earth to be a pleasant distraction from reality. From the monorail and the Haunted Mansion to It’s A Small World and Space Mountain, it was a great way to spend about five hours on a Tuesday. Then I couldn’t take it anymore.
      Give me the clutter and debris of daily life over glossy perfection any time. Low level chaos is pretty much unavoidable, especially this time of year with the quotidian tangle of obligations, chores, committee meetings and deadlines are mixed in with holiday endeavors like gift buying/wrapping/sending, parties and mailing Christmas cards.
      Disneyland, by design, has none of that. No ringing phones, no trash to take out, no sniffles, no mortgages, no natural disasters. Reality-induced misery, no matter how small, is simply not allowed. It is orchestrated suspension of disbelief, just like Uncle Walt envisioned. In a world where we often feel wildly out of control, a visit to Disney offers the masses a little respite. But back in South Carolina, apart from its natural beauty, part of the charm of our islands is the funk factor. Quirks and all, Sullivan’s Island, for example, has almost nothing in common with Celebration, that Disnified community in Florida near Kissimee. With a population of some 716 families, I assume its perfect sidewalks and picture postcard artificial lake allow residents an extension of the super happy vibe one can only get at a manicured theme park. Wow. And throughout December residents enjoy an event called Now Snowing complete with a nightly snowfall at 6:00 , 7:00 , 8:00 and 9:00pm . But I bet they have root canal appointments, messy garages and mortgages due too.
      Let’s hear it for our Island idiosyncrasies. I rather like our bumpy roads and spotty cell phone service. Give me a Bert’s Bar over an Applebee’s anytime. I’m going to untangle the strings of lights strewn across my living room floor, take my burning cookies out of the oven, and invite the neighbors over even though the house is not picked up. Embrace the season, with all its imperfections, before it’s gone.

Best water in town
By Alyssa Caparas

     For the guys at the Sullivan’s Island Wastewater and Treatment Facility, the water that swirls down your toilet bowl is an everyday thought, and an important one too. Every day these men take care of the “business” we don’t ever think about.
      The Sullivan’s Island Wastewater Treatment facility was awarded Wastewater Treatment System of the Year for the 0-1,000-tap classification bracket.
      Greg Gress, General Manager of the Sullivan’s Island Water and Sewer department, gives credit for this award to the town. “This is not an individual award,” said Gress. “It shows commitment from the town.”
      In 1996 and 1997, there was a dilemma among town council members about the treatment of wastewater. Should the water be treated on the island, or sent somewhere else? Voters chose to have a treatment facility on the island, and an upgrade on the current facility was completed in March 2005.
      The natural process of treating wastewater begins with the headwork system. Mechanical bar screens remove the grit and rags out of the water flow, which reduces interference with the other treatment units.
      The water then moves to the oxidation ditch, where billions of microorganisms consume what is in the wastewater. This is known as the activated sludge treatment. The microorganisms use the contaminants in the wastewater as a source of food. “As long as we give them oxygen and keep the right balance, they are happy,” said Gress.
      After approximately 18 hours of eating, the activated sludge flows to the clarifier where the heavier sludge will sink to the bottom, and cleaner water flows to the contact chambers.
      In these chambers, chlorine is added for sterilization. Once the chlorine has had enough time to kill the sludge survivors, it is removed using a safe sulfur dioxide compound. This effluent water is then pumped safely into the marsh.
      Meanwhile, excess sludge is pumped to the aerobic digester, where the microorganisms are deprived of food and become cannibals. This further treats the waste and is a strictly organic process. After 20 days, this waste then moves to the bed area, and once it dries it is scooped up and taken to a landfill. Down the road Gress hopes to break the waste down further so it can be used as compost.
      The treatment of wastewater goes almost unnoticed throughout the town, but without it, we couldn’t have clean water. With major droughts happening all over the world, conserving and recycling water has become a very important issue.
      “We do everything we can to protect the environment,” said Gress. “We have a certified lab. We put better quality effluent out there. We’re a profession, that’s what we do. We’re environmentalists.”
      One of the goals Gress hopes to accomplish in the future is the redistribution of treated water to homes to be used for irrigation. Recently, the town has been putting in new underground water mains but leaving the olds ones too. Gress says it may be possible to pump the effluent water back through the old underground pipes.
      It will be up to Town Council members to determine the outcome of this issue, like many of the others that have come from the Wastewater Treatment Facility. Gress says his hat goes off to the Town Council for their support in the past.
      Without the support of the community, nothing the Wastewater Treatment Facility does could be possible. It is our waste and our voices that allow the men of the facility to do their jobs; necessary, important jobs that include keeping the Town and environment clean.

Wild Dunes facing fines
By Ali Akhyari

    Wild Dunes residents and regime members who have placed sandbags on the beach will now be facing penalties if those sandbags are not removed.
      Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) originally gave out emergency orders in May of this past year that allowed particular residents, regimes, and associations in the critical erosion areas of Wild Dunes to use sandbags. The order was a temporary fix with an expiration date of November 30 that was supposed to buy time for the affected area while those who were affected developed a permanent solution.
      Dan Burger, for OCRM, stated that a site inspection was conducted on December 3 and that the parties involved with the sandbags have failed to comply with the provisions of the emergency order. In other words, the bags had not been picked up. An extension of the order was applied for and denied. As a result, OCRM has initiated an enforcement action in which the relevant parties involved may be fined daily until the sandbags are removed.
      Earlier this year, the City of Isle of Palms put together a beachfront management plan and presented it to OCRM in order to be compliant and eligible for federal funding in order to pay for the inevitable beach nourishment project.
       Many Wild Dunes residents are dumbfounded that OCRM will not extend the emergency order since the City finally submitted a beachfront management plan earlier this year. The original deadline for that plan was 1991. There had been hopes, orally presented at a special meeting which was attended by House Representative Ben Hagood and State Senator Chip Campsen, in which the City expected an extension because of the plan submittal.
      However, Burger says that it is important for OCRM to enforce penalties so that regulations are not constantly being undermined. Earlier this year, the City quickly passed an ordinance that allowed 250 gallon sandbags because the Links golf course at Wild Dunes had placed sandbags that were five times larger than what OCRM permitted. It is not an unqualified fear that their regulations may be undermined.
       The plan is a crucial component of getting funding for a beach nourishment project which has been estimated to cost $10 million. The City has only recently submitted a separate application to OCRM for that plan as well.
      OCRM has been criticized for taking a long time in dealing with the plan. However, Burger noted that the City took a backwards path in getting a beachfront management plan to OCRM, which is part of the reason for the delay.
      The first step in a beachfront management plan, he says, is for the City to coordinate and work with DHEC/OCRM. However, the City developed and passed a plan on their own and simply gave it to OCRM for approval. As a result there are many aspects of the plan that do not conform with state regulations. OCRM has had to do the work of rewriting the plan themselves so that it conforms. In fact, they’ve had to hire a consultant to do the work. Chris Jones, who the City hired to develop a long-term beach managment plan, is helping OCRM with this plan as well.
      Once the plan is approved, it belongs to the State. For that reason, Burger says they have the responsibility of giving the plan a thorough, comprehensive review. He estimates that they are still one or two months away from presenting the plan to City Council for approval. Before final OCRM approval, a public hearing will be held to present the plan and hear public comments.
      While residents and elected officials may argue that an extension should be given because a plan was submitted, several other facts must be understood.
      First, there was no guarantee that a plan would result in the extension of the deadline. That was simply wishful thinking on the part of a City that was way behind on the plan in the first place. Who should be blamed for that fault is a matter of argument. But that leads to the second fact. OCRM placed an original deadline for a beachfront management plan for sometime in 1991. The City has had 16 years to to get this done. While knee-jerk reactions to oceanic crises may be what Wild Dunes residents are used to, OCRM has a responsibility to develop a strong, responsible plan for the City.
      It has not escaped the reality of anyone’s consciousness that while governments and agencies are discussing regulations and compliance, people’s homes and properties are at risk of being condemned or falling into the ocean.

Before stones are cast, consider some other facts.
      The sandbags are not being forcefully removed. The emergency orders were a signed agreement between the State via OCRM and the parties within Wild Dunes that wanted sandbags. There was no surprise that the bags needed to be removed by November 30. There was also no argument by anyone when the agreements were signed by Wild Dunes Regime Managers that an extension of the order should be granted on any basis. It was also stated in the order that the permitee should use the time to pursue a more permanent solution. Because it has not been done, they are being fined, but they are still protected by the sandbags.
      NorthBeach LLC is an association of Wild Dunes residents and regimes who applied for a beach nourishment permit from OCRM. They were granted one in October. However, no nourishment has taken place because NorthBeach wanted to scrape the Cedar Creek Spit for the sand and OCRM required them to get sand from an upland source. As a result, NorthBeach LLC has appealed the permit in lieu of getting sand elsewhere.
      Furthermore, it was also a provision of the emergency order that those same parties who asked for the order were responsible for maintaining the sandbags. However, it became the job of City employees, residents throughout Isle of Palms, and visitors to clean up the mess when the sandbags washed away. In fact, people from distant coastal communities were picking up the trash on their beaches.Perhaps the question of OCRM extending the sandbag deadline is the not the most relevant. There are a few others that are, at the very least, equally important.
      Lona Vest, Property Manager for a few Wild Dunes Regimes, would not comment on the actions they have taken on the advice of their attorney Cotton Harness. However, she did confirm that the regimes she represents were involved with litigation in regards to the OCRM and their sandbag requirements through Harness.Harness did not respond to phone messages as of our deadline. Dave Kynoyski of the Wild Dunes Community Association also did not respond to phone messages.