Date Published: January 23, 2007   

Clyburn: Bridge fight not over

Congressman to continue push for Briggs-DeLaine-Pearson Connector

Item file photo U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., indicates the path of the proposed Briggs-DeLaine-Pearson Connector on a map in July 2005. The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control denied the permit request because of some missing information.

By LESLIE CANTU
Item Senior Staff Writer
lesliec@theitem.com

Opponents of the proposed Briggs-DeLaine-Pearson Connector over Lake Marion were delighted to learn of the denial of a water-quality permit for the bridge last week, but the bridge's champion cautioned that the denial is simply one step in the process.

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control denied the S.C. Department of Transportation's request for a permit "without prejudice" because of some missing information.

"This does happen from time to time," DHEC spokesman Thom Berry said.

The department might deny a permit for lack of information a handful of times each year, he said, usually on more complex projects.

The proposed connector extends nine miles from Lone Star in Calhoun County to Rimini in Sumter County and includes about three miles of bridge over the Upper Santee Swamp.

Now that DHEC has denied the permit, the transportation department can ask DHEC's board to hear an appeal, file a new application with the missing material attached or do nothing.

U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., has pushed for the bridge as a part of his plan to improve the health, economic and educational situation in an impoverished, struggling area of his district.

He believes that a bridge connecting Sumter and Orangeburg — the first good-sized towns drivers would hit after crossing the bridge — can do for tiny Lone Star what the Interstate 95 bridge has done for Santee.

He issued a statement after the permit denial saying the bridge is far from finished.

"This is part of the process every road and bridge project must undergo before it receives approval. The Briggs-DeLaine-Pearson Connector's future is being played out in all three branches of government — I represent the legislative branch and a lawsuit has been filed in the judicial branch. This permitting debate is taking place at an agency that answers to the Executive Branch. We must wait for it to play out in all of these government jurisdictions before any declaration can be made on the Connector's future," he said.

Opponents say the bridge will harm one of the last remaining tracts of bottomland hardwood swamp and won't help residents in the way that Clyburn hopes.

Some lake residents who oppose the bridge have been collecting signatures on a petition asking Clyburn to reconsider his support for the connector.

Members of the Low Falls Homeowners Association, on the south side of the lake, have collected about 3,000 signatures, mostly from residents of Clyburn's district, said Low Falls resident Jan Pittard.

She said she's been surprised at the diversity of support the petition has received — people of all races and from all walks of life have signed on, she said.

"We were surprised at that. You would think it would be more or less the fishermen that would sign it," she said.



Contact Senior Staff Writer Leslie Cantu at lesliec@theitem.com or (803) 774-1250.