There's a petition drive under way to stop a new port from being built 60 miles inland. When Buck Travis heard there were plans to build a port on the shores of Lake Marion, he couldn’t believe his ears. Travis says, “First instinct was that they were kidding. Now I realize that they’re serious, and we need to do something about it.”

To him, that meant starting a petition in and around Santee. He says many of his neighbors agree with him, that an inland port would be awful for the lake.

Lucy Duncan is President and CEO of Carolinks, a Charleston company that wants to build the port. She says, they’ve already secured 800 acres around Lake Marion, and that their port will definitely become a reality. Duncan says, “I think the people that are raising this question in some hysterical way need to understand that this is already happening. It’s not something we’ve invented.”

The big issue is over the thought of barges coming up the Cooper River from Charleston carrying large containers. Residents believe it would ruin the tranquility of the lake. Travis says "You got people up there water-skiing, pulling inner-tubes with their kids, how dangerous is it gonna be with the barges here also?”

Carolinks says it’s still not certain whether or not barges would be part of the equation. But even if they were, they don’t see the problem. Duncan says, "Would this harm Lake Marion? No. Absolutely not. How could it? Does it compete with recreational activity? That can be mitigated. We can work at night, they can work at day. There’s all kinds of ways to mitigate.”