Yes, I'm all about this:
http://www.wbtw.com/...
Democrat Vincent Sheheen brought his Gubernatorial campaign to Myrtle Beach Wednesday.
The State Senator from Camden joined the Conservation Voters of South Carolina to discuss water quality issues on the strand.
A Natural Resources Defense Council's Annual Water Quality report says Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach's ocean water has high bacteria levels.
"While Governor Haley's budget has increase, while she's given 25% pay increases to her own staff, water protection has suffered," said Sheheen. - WBTW 13 News, 7/16/14
Here's some info:
http://www.thestate.com/...
In Myrtle Beach as part of a campaign stop, Sheheen said he favors spending $10 million to $20 million in state money to get rid of the pipes so that vacationers aren’t exposed to contaminated runoff.
The beachside pipes release runoff water, forming pools and rivulets that often attract children as the water drains into the ocean. The state has installed small signs warning of the bacteria dangers. The Natural Resources Defense Council, a national environmental group, recently ranked South Carolina beaches seventh worst in the country for water quality, primarily because of pollution in the Myrtle Beach area.
Sheheen, a state senator from Camden, criticized Republican Gov. Nikki Haley for not helping Grand Strand cities address the issue. Local communities in Horry County are spending money to pipe the stormwater offshore to replace pipes on beaches.
"Local municipalities have invested tens of millions of dollars on some of the outflows to clean them up, but the state under Gov. Haley has not done anything to help," Sheheen said in an interview after his news conference. "We will help to lead the charge to work cooperatively with the local community to take those same steps with the remaining outfalls.’" - The State, 7/16/14
Here's what else you need to know:
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/...
Some state money has been spent helping with the stormwater removal effort, now spearheaded by Grand Strand cities. But officials on the coast said the amount has been tiny.
North Myrtle Beach has received $1.8 million in state money for drainage-pipe removal during the past two years, city officials said. Myrtle Beach city officials said they had received money through the state’s revolving-loan program that must be repaid.
Instead, most of the projects’ costs have been paid by local taxes and fees levied by Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach. Those two cities have spent about $35 million in the past two decades to remove pipes and route the drainage offshore, city officials said Wednesday.
Grand Strand officials said they could use help getting rid of the pipes — at one time there were 150 — that historically have lined the beaches. Without added help, removing the approximately 100 remaining pipes could take two decades or more because of a lack of money, city officials said Wednesday.
Sheheen told The State that he supports using “one-time money,’’ typically surplus revenues that often occur annually in South Carolina’s state budget, for drainage pipe removal.
Sheheen said $10 million to $20 million would help for one year, but he acknowledged the expense could be higher. For that reason, Sheheen said he could support adding additional years to help pay for the drainage pipe removal effort in Horry County.
Ocean water quality and polluted runoff have been issues in the Myrtle Beach area since the 1970s. In the late 1990s, after The State newspaper wrote articles detailing surf pollution near drainage pipes, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control began testing the ocean for pollution.
Data since have shown bacteria levels rise to unsafe levels in many spots after heavy rains. Many of the problem areas are in some of the most crowded sections of Myrtle Beach, the cornerstone of South Carolina’s $17 billion tourism economy.
At one time, DHEC warned people through the media not to swim after water tests showed high bacteria counts. However, in recent years, the agency has started relying on permanent signs at drainage pipes and inlets to get the word out from near North Myrtle Beach through Surfside Beach. Sheheen said DHEC should do more to warn of the threat when bacteria levels are unsafe in the ocean.
Last month, the Natural Resources Defense Council, a national environmental group, ranked S.C. beaches as seventh worst in the country in water quality, mostly because of problems in the Myrtle Beach area. The group’s annual report often has taken Myrtle Beach to task. - MyrtleBeachOnline.com, 7/16/14
And this could be a serious campaign issue that could help Sheheen:
http://www.islandpacket.com/...
Haley and Sheheen will face each other in November’s general election in a rematch of their 2010 contest, which Haley won by 4.5 percentage points. (Three other candidates also will be on the November ballot.)
In 2010, Haley routed Sheheen — by more than 20 percentage points — in Horry County, where the Republican enjoys strong support. But Sheheen’s efforts could resonate with voters who don’t live in Horry County and vacation on its beaches.
The Democrat’s statements Wednesday are among recent efforts to showcase the need for protecting the environment. Haley has been criticized by conservation groups for failing to address environmental issues.
Sheheen said spending state money to get rid of drainage pipes on the beach is worthwhile because Myrtle Beach is a state resource that many people across South Carolina — and the nation — visit.
“That is the appropriate use of that one-time infrastructure money in the state budget every year,’’ he said. “We ought to make it a priority.’’
Sheheen said he also would be a champion of seeking federal money to help with the drainage pipe removal effort. The Kershaw County attorney said he has warned his own children away from drainage pipes, and the pools that form beneath them, while visiting Myrtle Beach on vacation.
“I’ve been right there in those outflows with my kids, telling them to ‘Move on. You don’t want to play in that water that looks like a nice little tide pool,’ ’’ he said. - The Island Packet, 7/16/14
Sheheen has committed to making South Carolina a cleaner and greener state and I think he has a serious shot to finally defeat Haley. Click here to get involved and donate to his campaign:
http://vincentsheheen.com/