What's causing the marshes around Huspah Creek to die off?

Woody Collins was on his way to do some fishing in the Huspah Creek in northern Beaufort County earlier this month when he spotted unusual black patches in the marsh.

"I kept kind of noticing it to make sure that what I thought I saw was actually what I saw," said Collins, who lives near the creek and regularly takes a path through the marsh to get to the water. "It took me a while to realize for certain. The grass had died; something had caused that die-off."

Collins showed the dead zones to his neighbors, who also became concerned. They contacted several county and state officials and asked them to test the patches to determine what is killing the vegetation.

"(There are) short, stubby pieces of marsh grass that look sort of black, and they'll go right up to marsh grasses that are getting golden," said Sally Murphy, who visited the three sites residents found along the Huspah. "I grew up on the salt marsh south of Savannah, and this is like nothing I've ever seen."

The black spots also alarmed Sheldon resident John Smith, who says some of the patches have grown to the size of two football fields and cover several acres.

Smith wrote a letter to the editor about the dying marsh that was published last week. He said he has since heard from other Lowcountry residents who reported seeing similar spots in marshland on Hilton Head Island and in Jasper County.

Government officials are not moving fast enough to figure out the problem, Smith said, though several Beaufort County council members and a representative from the state Department of Health and Environmental Control have made visits.

"Every time I get approached by someone I ask, 'Are you out to do science or just to poke around?' " Smith said. "They're always coming out to waste time. ... Nothing gets accomplished. Nothing has been done."

'We're not walking away from this'

But Thom Berry, a spokesman for DHEC, said the department is working with the county, the S.C. Department of Natural Resources and Clemson University to figure out what is happening to the marsh.

Russell Berry, regional director of DHEC for Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties, went to the marsh along the Huspah Creek on Nov. 5, he said.

"We have gone out to look at some of these areas," Berry said. "We've also brought in ... our colleagues to try and see if we can figure out just what exactly might be going on -- whether this is some type of natural occurrence, or whether it is the result of change in salinity, higher-than-normal tides."

The investigation is just starting, and there is no timeline for its completion, he said. The department is trying to determine how widespread the dead zones are and reviewing research done by other states.

"We'll make sure that we do what needs to be done to try to identify a cause," Berry said. "We're not walking away from this."

Studying dying marshland in Georgia

Biologists at the Georgia DNR began seeing black patches in marshes there in 2002, according to department biologist Jan Mackinnon.

They dubbed the problem "marsh die-back," she said.

"One area along the Jerico River in Liberty County was estimated to be 500-plus acres of contiguous die-back or loss of marsh grass to either short stems or bare mud," Mackinnon said. "We identified many sites along the coast through an effort to get public input and raise awareness of this issue."

The department also worked with the University of Georgia, the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve and Savannah State University to research marsh die-back and are testing seven sites along the Georgia coast.

Data and reports on the testing are posted on the Georgia Coastal Research Council Web site, Mackinnon said.

"Most investigators believe that the die-back was ultimately drought-induced, but it isn't clear what specific characteristics may be linked to die-back," she said. "We are continuing to monitor, field calls from the public and assist in research efforts to determine what the specific cause of die-back may be or have been."

Waiting for answers

Residents near the Huspah Creek are eager to find out what is killing the marsh and to stop it -- drought-induced or not, they said.

Some believe recent herbicide spraying in the area by SCE&G might be to blame, but there is no evidence the spraying is connected to the black patches.

Scott Grigg, a spokesman for the utility, said a 2006 University of Florida study done on the herbicides has shown the chemicals are safe when used properly.

"Just because some herbicides are less toxic than table salt does not mean that any herbicides should be handled carelessly," the study concluded. "But on the other hand, using an herbicide in accordance with the product label will not often result in personal injury or cause for alarm."

Smith said he simply wants officials to pay attention and take action before any more acres of marsh die. He believes the dead zones are rapidly spreading.

"People don't travel from Ohio to here to spend their money and look at dead rivers," Smith said. "My guess is we have many more problems out there."