Administrative law judge takes up Charleston cruise permit | News

By BRUCE SMITH
Associated Press

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - The dispute over a permit for a planned $35 million Charleston cruise terminal is now before South Carolina's Administrative Law Courts.

A status hearing on the case is being held Tuesday in Columbia.

Neighborhood and environmental groups have challenged a permit allowing pilings to be pounded into the Cooper River bottom under an old warehouse that the South Carolina State Ports Authority plans to convert into the terminal.

The permit was issued last year by state regulators. Conservation and environmental groups want an administrative judge to either reverse the permit or consider other locations for the terminal.

They say permit review failed to consider the impact of noise, traffic and pollution on the city's historic district. The cruise controversy has also sparked lawsuits in both state and federal courts.

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