You know who has it too hard? Polluters. Just because they put toxins in your soil, your water, your air, your kids… that doesn’t mean you should be able to do one damn thing about it. And if South Carolina legislators get their way, you won't.
For the past 65 years, if someone — or some company — was illegally polluting in South Carolina, you could sue. The law was put on the books so that if South Carolina’s enforcement agencies didn’t have the time, money, or political backing to go after a polluter, the average citizen could step in.
Now, with only a month left in its 2015-2016 session, the South Carolina legislature has picked up a bill that would do away with this ability.
Of course, the bill is probably just stopping completely frivolous lawsuits. Because South Carolina agencies catch every polluter and have the time, manpower, and budget to follow up on every case. Except the ones that they’re ignoring intentionally–like massive spills of coal ash.
In early 2012, SELC filed a suit on behalf of a local water protection group, the Catawba Riverkeeper, against South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) over coal ash pollution in the Wateree River, near Columbia. ...
By August, the parties in the SELC suit had reached an agreement: SCE&G would remove all the coal ash in its unlined pits, either recycling it or putting it in lined landfills.
In other words, the system worked. There was documented pollution. Citizens’ groups sued, and the pollution was addressed.
Why is the South Carolina legislature pushing this bill? Not because these lawsuits have been trivial. It’s because they’re important. And effective. It’s because citizen groups have used the ability to sue to go after big offenders with big pull in the capitol.
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