Six septic permits for properties beside the Shem Creek marsh have drawn a challenge from Mount Pleasant Waterworks, which says public sewer already runs through the Broadway Street area and the lots should connect to it instead. The Post and Courier reports that the properties are in unincorporated Charleston County and that the utility argues additional septic systems could threaten efforts to improve the creek.
What the state rule does—and does not—settle
South Carolina Department of Environmental Services guidance says people planning to build where public or community sewer service is unavailable must first obtain agency approval and an installation permit. That general rule does not determine whether these particular lots are served by sewer or explain the agency’s basis for issuing their permits. The utility’s claim that sewer lines are available is central to the dispute, but the cited reporting and guidance do not resolve that question.
The state’s published septic regulation defines a zone of saturation using soil-water pressure and says the beginning of that zone is used to calculate required vertical separation from the deepest point of effluent application. That technical standard provides regulatory context; by itself, it does not establish whether any of the six proposed systems meets the applicable requirements or what conditions were considered in the permits.
A separate cleanup record and a precedent on notice
The permit fight is unfolding against a documented water-quality problem: The Post and Courier reports that Shem Creek is listed as impaired for enterococcus and that a state pollution-control plan was established in 2020. That history underscores the stakes of the dispute, but it does not show that the proposed systems caused the creek’s existing contamination.
A May 2025 circuit-court ruling offers a limited procedural comparison. In a separate Lowcountry case, a judge ordered public notice and a comment period before the state approved certain large septic systems, Live 5 News reported. That case concerned public participation in other approvals; it does not decide whether the Broadway Street permits were properly issued or whether these properties can connect to sewer.
The Post and Courier reports that Mount Pleasant Waterworks has a broader goal of moving septic-dependent residents onto the public wastewater system and is working on financial assistance for septic repairs. For the six Broadway Street properties, however, the immediate dispute remains whether sewer service is available and what that means for the permits. The public information cited here does not establish how or when the challenge will be resolved.
