The Little Pee Dee Listed as #5 Most Endangered River in the US
I-73 project presents an existential threat to all residents in the Little Pee Dee watershed who aren't from Horry County
This will be brief. American Rivers, an environmental advocacy organization, has released their 2024 most endangered rivers list. The Little Pee Dee came in at number 5.
The primary threat to the river’s health is the looming development of I-73. The project represents a threat to the river’s water quality, flood control, and habitat. The army corps of engineers estimates that the project will result in the loss of 300 acres of wetlands, but they approved the project anyway.
Who benefits from this project? The highway is designed to connect I-95 to Horry County, eventually running into SC-22 above Conway so that the regrettable “people” of Ohio and elsewhere can have their precious family vacations at the expense of the environment for locals whose families have lived here for hundreds of years. Too much money being made by businesses in Horry County to care, I guess.
Horry County is the fastest growing county in the US and there are a number of funding sources to provide construction for the highway. Profits come first, it would seem. The Winyah Rivers Alliance, Coastal Conservation League, and Waccamaw Tribe all stand against this development because of its environmental threats.
Federal lawmakers forced Horry County officials to enter 6,000 acres of habitat into conservation easements in perpetuity. I doubt it will be sufficient.
The last straw preventing the development is the necessary tax required to fund the remainder that Horry County isn’t putting up itself. Conway City Councilman William Goldfinch is the driver pushing for the tax and the development. Goldfinch was arrested for DUI in 2017 and the charges were magically dropped. Goldfinch’s talking points center around a “need” for infrastructure in Horry County.
That isn’t how it works. Infrastructure induces demand. More roads only brings more people. “We have to find balance between conservation and the growing need for infrastructure in Horry County.”
Well here’s a piece of news. The stretch of river that will be most impacted is entirely in Dillon and Marion counties. Corrupt Horry County officials calling for a project whose cost will be mostly borne by other counties? Color me shocked.
Goldfinch lives (I think, there’s at least property under his name) at 613 Laurel St. in Conway. Would be a shame if something were to happen.
The river has already had catastrophic flooding in recent years. This will only make it worse. Horry County continues to see “growth” which results in more and more paved surfaces, forcing more and more water into the river instead of into the ground. The destruction of wetlands will be a nail in the coffin.
To be clear, the people of Marion and Dillon counties should be up in arms over this. Georgetown too. This will destroy habitats that they hunt and fish in. It will cause more flooding that destroys their homes and the homes of people they love. If Horry County wants their highway, they should be made to pay for it in blood. The destruction of the river would be catastrophic for Marion. It will destroy farmland. It will destroy water and soil quality. The water you drink doesn’t just magically appear. It is an existential threat and it should become a point of violence. They won’t listen to anything else.
It sounds extreme because we are all so numb to the efforts it takes to protect and create the world we want to live in. A wise man once said “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”
If some county officials who you didn’t have a say in electing are trying to do something that will negatively effect your quality of life and your very existence, how can that be anything other than remote tyranny?
You should not spend another cent in Horry County if you are from any neighboring area. Those dollars will be used to destroy your way of life, more than they already have. The time for words is almost at an end.