Bay Point development would be ‘like plopping a toxic waste dump in the marsh’ | Letters
Enjoy fishing our expansive waters and marshes? Then know what’s being planned for Bay Point, an island at the mouth of the Port Royal Sound.
Its surrounding marshes are in near-pristine condition, supporting an abundance of marine species. Sea life relies on healthy, uncontaminated marsh ecosystems to develop and grow. This will change, forever, if a proposed resort complex is built on its shores.
A resort brings impervious surfaces and chemical runoff that fouls our natural resources. Worse, more impervious surfaces mean warmer runoff into the marsh. And the chemical runoff from diesel fuel, gasoline, sunscreens, bug repellent, cooking oils and cleaning supplies will impact growing populations of fish, shrimp, crabs and oysters because they leach into the marsh.
And then there’s human waste from a projected 300 people using restrooms daily, that will seep high-nutrient yields into these marshes. It is inevitable. These nutrients act just like fertilizer, supporting harmful algae blooms that sap oxygen out of the water, stressing larval and adult populations of marine organisms. Bay Point is just too sandy, too low in elevation, and too small to prevent this.
All of these effects will hit simultaneously, like plopping a toxic waste dump in the marsh.
And it will cost us in devalued commercial and tourism returns of our marine fisheries industries. Further, those who rely on these marshes as fishing grounds will be hardest hit. At the end of the day, everyone in Beaufort County will pay for a selfish money grab that benefits few and harms many.
Tim Deckard
Cast Away Charters
Port Royal
Let environmental protection guide all Hilton Head decisions
It’s time to think about saving Hilton Head Island’s ecological environment.
It starts with the Town of Hilton Head Island amending its mission to begin with a simple statement:
“To unfailingly protect our island’s natural resources and ecological environment, and forever sustain a community known for its responsible eco-tourism and protected nature.”
I’ll let the experts come up with accurate wording, but you get the idea.
Any reference to protecting our island’s natural environment is absent in our town’s current mission statement. That needs to change.
A simple example of how this mission statement change would impact town decisions:
Would go-kart courses be considered eco-friendly, particularly when built on the borders of Broad Creek, contributing to the current stormwater challenges that continue to pollute our coastal waterways?
Let’s envision our island full of visitors who, along with their children, are attending weekly Eco-Camps, attending daily, multi-day or week-long programs learning about the importance of ecology and sustainability, and about the wildlife on this barrier-island nature preserve that we call home.
Or full of visitors immersed in our cultural history, helping to rebuild Mitchelville, while at the same time enjoying our island’s beautiful beaches, golf, tennis, cultural, and outdoor-lifestyle activities.
And full of visitors who recognize they are visiting one of the world’s truly unique eco-systems, and who will “leave is as they found it,” while enjoying all that our island has to offer.
Finally, let’s establish Hilton Head, in its entirety, as a protected wildlife preserve.
Rex Gale
Hilton Head Island
The so-called rights of anti-maskers
Dear Anti-maskers,
After a great deal of in-depth research I have not found anywhere in the Constitution of the United States of America or its Amendments where it says that everyone has a right not to wear masks. While this may be an oversight of the Founding Fathers, I suspect they would not agree with your premise.
Governments have been instituted among civilizations to ensure the safety and security of their members since the beginning of recorded history. People gathered in tribes and created rules of conduct to protect against aberrant behavior.
For a bit of modern context, you do not have a right to drive your car as fast as you wish. You do not have a right to ignore a stop light. You do not have a right to go naked in public. I could go on and on.
Yes, these measures deny you certain behaviors that you may wish to do, but the laws have been instituted to maintain the health and safety of the general population.
If you don’t want to wear a mask, that may be your right (I doubt it, but it may be), but it is not your right to endanger the health and safety of your fellow citizens. If you want to flaunt the law, please don’t try to use the Constitution as a justification.
Donald Foulke
Okatie
Don’t call this article ‘news’
I was just reading the Thursday, July 2, Gazette when I was struck by the headline, “Coronavirus reaches into Republican territory.”
I know that this virus is apparent intelligent. It strikes public gatherings such as weddings, funerals, and church services. But avoids infecting multi-thousand protests. What struck me about this article (besides the obvious politicized headline) were several quotes within.
“His (Trump) supporters have been less likely to support preventive measures, more likely to believe dangers were exaggerated and less likely to worry about friends or family contracting the virus.” Wow. I really am deplorable!
How did this article ever get on the front page? If anywhere, it belongs in the editorials.
Another beauty that got me: “Andrew Cuomo last week pulled no punches in seeking some vindication for himself and other Democrats who battled the virus first and faced skepticism from Trump and other Republicans.”
“You played politics with this virus, and you lost.”
No, the people who really lost were the thousands of elderly who died in New York nursing homes because Cuomo sent them back there. Where’s the science behind that?
You can print anything you want, but don’t call this news. I take anything that comes from The Associated Press or The New York Times (which appear to be the bulk of the paper) with a grain of salt. It’s making me reconsider my subscription.
Thomas Bate
Bluffton
Headline offensive
In this day and age, somebody is always offended by something or other. In this vein, I must state that, as a transplanted Northerner and now a proud Southerner, I am offended by the Packet’s front-page headline of July 2, “Coronavirus reaches into Republican territory.”
Why say Republican when South could have as easily been inserted?
At a time when the media and others have been decrying the politicalization of the virus and its spread, why contribute to this trend? I must say, “I am offended.”
Tom Coleman
Hilton Head Island
Why would you ‘target’ Republicans?
If there was ever any doubt that The Island Packet has become a left-leaning publication, the headline “Coronavirus reaches into Republican territory” confirms it for me. I guess the virus now has a GPS and/or map to help it “target” Republicans.
Jim Bailey
Hilton Head Island
Hilton Head mayor’s priorities not as promised
When our current Mayor ran for office, he promised the voters of Hilton Head Island that he would put “islanders first.” In my opinion he has not done that.
Instead he has shown through his actions and words that he prioritizes the following groups in this order: 1) Himself; 2) The Chamber; 3) Businesses; 4) Tourists; and lastly 5) Island Residents.
We can only hope that he will run for reelection so that the voters can show him how much we have appreciated his putting us first.
John Eddy
Hilton Head Island
Few COVID cases per capita
Approximately 23,100 Bluffton residents, with 320 COVID-10 cases equals 1.385%, less or the same as flu.
George Brunn
Bluffton
The official Trump mask
Can’t wait to see President Donald Trump wearing his patriotic face mask, “Keep America Well Again.”
Debby Boots
Hilton Head Island