Residents of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina protest petrochemical plant plans, 1969-1971

In October 1969, a German company known as Badische Anilin und Soda Fabrik (BASF) made plans to invest in building a petrochemical plant on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. The Lowcountry region, where Hilton Head Island is located, was already experiencing a public health crisis, predominantly in its black and low-income communities. Some residents perceived BASF’s announcement as a huge opportunity as it would provide jobs. Other residents resisted the petrochemical project. Black communities, such as the Gullah Geechee people and the Hilton Head Fishing Cooperative (HHFC), were, initially, the most concerned due to the environmental impact the plant could have on the land and local environment, specifically how it could affect water quality and the fishing industry. Additionally, white real estate owners created an alliance against BASF due to the shared common goal of preserving their community. 

Following the announcement, the non-official governing body known as the Hilton Head Island Community Association met to strategize how they could push BASF out in order to protect the tourism industry and ensure that BASF prohibits pollution from their operations. Other groups opposed to BASF, such as the Citizens Association of Beaufort County and the HHFC, bought ads in the newspaper, dispersed petitions, and wrote letters to government officials in order to put public pressure on BASF to leave. Some of these organizations were well-connected and well-funded and quickly organized a petition against BASF garnering 35,000 signatures. Two individuals wrote letters to the editor of the Beaufort Gazette with data regarding the risks of pollution associated with the project and the need for environmental protection. Following the Island’s annual Heritage golf tournament, which regularly attracted media attention, land developers Charles Fraiser of Sea Pines and Fred Hack of Hilton Head Co. formed an alliance with one another to stop BASF. The Hilton Head Chamber of Commerce, independently, opposed the plant, causing the Beaufort County Council to refuse its $7,500 allocation to the Chamber. The council later threatened to reduce the amount of annual allocation if the Chamber opposed the county policy, referring to their cooperation with BASF. 

Scientists, journalists, and environmentalists got involved when Orion Hack, a naturalist who aimed to photograph every plant before they disappeared from Hilton Head Island, invited them to attend a symposium from 5-7 January 1970 called “Conservation Symposium: South Carolina in Crisis.” Attendees called for stronger pollution laws and funding into research in this area and attracted a lot of media attention from various publications.

William “Bill” Kenney, a retired Shell Oil counsel and the HHFC then turned to legal maneuvering, filing for injunctions to stop the construction and arguing that BASF was unable to prove it would not pollute the land or water.  Herbert Windom, the former chief of the physical science division of the University of Georgia’s Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, compared Hilton Head with Savannah, Georgia, another location plagued by industrial plants and pollution. Additionally, with the help of researchers in the Lowcountry, Bayard Webster authored an article in the New York Times detailing BASF’s history as a major polluter in Europe. Ultimately, the state government delayed BASF’s permits. Nevertheless, supporters, such as state elected-officials, argued that BASF’s plant would help alleviate the Island’s hunger, poverty, and education problems.   

John Gettys Smith, a local Gullah activist, along with other Gullah community members, led a symbolic boat trip, on a boat named Captain Dave. The trip started in Hilton Head and ended in Washington DC, ultimately spanning a week. The leaders of the trip aimed to raise public awareness about Lowcountry life and clean water as well as to deliver signed petitions against the BASF plant to the U.S Secretary of the Interior. Their boat contained pennants and signs criticizing BASF and advocating for clean water initiatives, and it arrived in Washington D.C. on the very first Earth Day, 2 April, 1970. 

On 8 April 1970, BASF announced it would suspend construction in the Lowcountry but it was not until the next January when the plant officially dropped any construction plans.