Date Published: May 3, 2005   

Clyburn rebuts Sanford

The Associated Press U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., foreground, addresses a group of demonstrators off Interstate 95 near Santee on Sunday who were protesting Gov. Mark Sanford’s opposition to a proposed bridge connecting Lone Star and Rimini.

By CRYSTAL OWENS
Item Staff Writer
cowens@theitem.com

In response to Gov. Mark Sanford's Sunday kayak trip on Sparkleberry Swamp, U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., on Monday said the Republican is "out of touch with reality" when he suggested that a proposed bridge linking Rimini and Lone Star estimated by Sanford to cost $110 million is unnecessary and a threat to the environment.

Clyburn said an environmental impact study conducted two years ago clearly stated the bridge would have no adverse impact or threat to any wildlife in the area.

Sanford spoke of the "pristine" swampland on Sunday and how building the bridge would destroy the habitat that is home to various wildlife, including several endangered or threatened species such as the bald eagle and red-cockaded woodpecker, during a two-hour kayak trip as part of his Family Fitness Challenge.

"The governor seems to think that all he says matters," Clyburn said. "He has no facts for anything. ... We ask him, 'Why don't you read the study?' But it's like my father said when I was a child growing up in Sumter, 'A person who refuses to read is no better than a person who can't read.'"

The proposed bridge, dubbed the Briggs-DeLaine-Pearson Connecter, would connect Rimini and Lone Star by crossing the northern tip of Lake Marion.

The 2.8-mile bridge spanning the Santee River would be part of a 9.6-mile road development that would begin west of Lone Star at S.C. 33 and S.C. 267, traveling along secondary state road 326 until reaching the lake.

At that point, the bridge would cross the waters, running north of and parallel to the railroad until reaching Rimini.

Photo provided Clyburn rallies demonstrators protesting Sanford's opposition to the proposed Briggs-DeLaine-Pearson connector bridge.

According to a state Department of Transportation survey, the approach would force three landings, including Pack's Landing, to be relocated.

Once in Rimini, the road would continue to follow the railroad until reaching secondary state road 52 in Sumter County.

Sanford said on Sunday that the project would save three minutes in driving time between the region's two major cities, Orangeburg and Sumter.

However, Clyburn says it's not about drive time, but improving the quality of life for those that live in the area.

"The governor keeps focusing on this three-minute drive time," Clyburn said. "There have been three studies conducted (since 1995) and in all three, it's clear that within Lee County, a depressed community, Sumter, Clarendon and Calhoun counties that if anything is going to enhance the quality of living within these areas ... it's about how you get from Manning, S.C., to Sumter ..."

Clyburn also disputed Sanford's claim about the bridge's cost, saying he's "never seen that figure anywhere from anybody." Clyburn estimates the cost of the bridge to be between $70 million and $80 million.

Members of the Department of Transportation commission recently voted to accept $2.5 million in federal funding for the project to determine the cost of building the long-discussed road and bridge.

The congressman said the bridge will help open the area for development, bring in much-needed jobs and improve the tax base and local school systems.

Rural residents in Calhoun and Clarendon counties are "devastated with diabetes," he said. "They are dying every day because of heart attacks and stroke. And they are drinking water that is unfit for human consumption every day." The project, he said, would include bike trails, conference centers, fishing camps, hunting lodges and golf courses.

"I'm trying to create a commerce corridor," he said. "Our economy in South Carolina is driven by tourism and these communities need this connection."

Clyburn alleged that Sanford's talk about environmental damage masks his own intentions for the area. The swamp, he said, is owned by Santee Cooper, the state-owned utility that Clyburn said Sanford wants to sell.

"He's already got his Wall Street people looking at Santee Cooper," he said. "What do you think will happen if that area goes to private ownership?"

Sanford, he said, has "one of the worst environmental voting records" and doesn't really care about the area where the bridge is proposed to be built or its people.

Sanford "said on Sunday that he enjoyed being around regular people," Clyburn said. "Well, I am one of them, he is not."


Contact Staff Writer Crystal Owens at cowens@theitem.com or 803-774-1270.