St. Simons marina, Buddy Carter’s land

Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025

Good morning! We have news today of a looming development on Buddy Carter’s property at one end of the Georgia coast and land preservation at the other. We also catch up on water news, with updates on drinking water worries in Savannah and on a St. Simons public marina that has been criticized for operating more like a private club. Also on St. Simons, there’s continued legal wrangling over a tiny wetland that could have a big importance.

Questions, tips or concerns? Send me a note at mary.landers@thecurrentga.org

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NEWS: ENVIRONMENT

Chatham adds green space

Chatham County last week purchased Green Island, a 400-acre undeveloped island on the Intracoastal Waterway, for $6 million. The purchase was jumpstarted by a $3 million Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program grant. The county matched that with $3 million from its Greenspace Fund, financed by a one-cent sales tax. The island is not yet open to the public, and the county is evaluating its historical, cultural, and natural preservation needs, as well as its conservation priorities. State Rep. Jesse Petrea (R-Savannah), who championed the purchase, said he wants more coastal land protected.

“I sure don’t want us to look like Jacksonville one day,” he said.

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NEWS: ENVIRONMENT

The legal wrangling over a filled-in wetland on St. Simons Island isn’t over yet, say plaintiffs in a Clean Water Act Citizen Suit against Sea Island Acquisition, LLC.

Glynn Environmental Coalition, the Center for a Sustainable Coast and Jane Fraser have fought since 2019 against what they say was a fraudulent application by Sea Island Acquisition for a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to fill in a half-acre wetland on St. Simons Island, as The Current’s Mary Landers reports. They are now poised to ask the court to reconsider a recent dismissal of their complaint, driven by a concern that the case will set an unwelcome precedent.

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NEWS: GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT

Carter’s Camden land to be developed

An Atlanta-based developer is seeking zoning changes to build 750 new homes on U.S. Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter’s 471-acre waterfront property in Camden County and a nearby plot owned by a prominent Jacksonville family. Carter, a multimillionaire who bought the property in 2018, stands to make about $2 million on the sale, as The Current’s Mary Landers and Margaret Coker report.

The development plans could cause significant change to the rural marshland surrounding the city of around 19,000 residents that is best known as the home of the U.S. Navy’s nuclear submarine base. The tracts to be developed include about 350 acres of upland and 200 acres of wetland.

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NEWS: BUSINESS

Management defends St. Simons marina

The head of the boating club that manages the St. Simons Marina told Glynn County commissioners Tuesday that his organization posted increased revenue since January, even as controversy swirled about the decision to spend millions of taxpayer dollars to make the public facility safe, The Current‘s Jabari Gibbs reports.

The Current has reported on the facility’s safety issue and ongoing violations of the club’s lease, as well as criticism that the club prioritizes its members instead of the public at the marina.

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NEWS:ENVIRONMENT

Savannah sees ‘boil water’ alert

Savannah issued a widespread ‘boil water’ alert Friday after there was a malfunction at its surface water treatment plant, which processes about 50 million gallons of water daily from Abercorn Creek, a tributary of the Savannah River.

The problem stemmed from a “malfunction in the hose that delivers the alum to the treatment process,” Mayor Van Johnson said Tuesday at his weekly news conference.

Alum, or aluminum sulfate, is a coagulant used to help clear the water of suspended particles. Too little of it and the water becomes cloudy and harder to disinfect. It was that cloudiness — or turbidity — that triggered the boil water notice, as required by state regulations. A partial all clear came Saturday when subsequent bacterial tests came back clean. Tests confirmed Sunday morning that the remaining areas under the advisory showed no presence of coliform bacteria and the water was safe to drink.

The weekend’s boil notice was more widespread than Savannah water employees could recall ever issuing before. It came as the city is cutting back its use of the relatively pure aquifer water and relying more on river water.

For the Savannah Riverkeeper, the implications are clear: “Please everyone, this is why the ground water should be reserved for drinking water not industrial water,” the riverkeeper posted on Facebook, echoing a stance the Ogeechee Riverkeeper has also taken. “This isn’t a problem that is going to go away, but if industry was using it instead of people drinking it … seems like the citizens would benefit a whole lot.”

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