Veteran Columbia conservation lawyer enjoys the fight
From an old mill house in Columbia, Bob Guild has run a sustained campaign to help citizens and conservation groups in the court rooms of South Carolina during the past three decades.
Sometimes he’s won big victories that have made newspaper headlines. Sometimes he’s toiled quietly on behalf of neighborhoods. But it’s always been worthwhile to Guild, an attorney who has established a reputation as one of the state’s foremost authorities on environmental law.
Wednesday, Guild was recognized for his work, receiving an environmental advocacy award from the Conservation Voters of South Carolina.
The Conservation Voters also honored state Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, state Sen. Greg Gregory, R-Lancaster, and conservationist Anne Springs Close with environmental awards during the group’s annual luncheon at 701 Whaley. The fundraising event attracted 460 people.
Guild, 65, said working for every-day folks and non-profit conservation groups is what he was supposed to do. Often the effort has required him to take on teams of corporate lawyers who are better paid and better staffed than Guild, who works from his home to keep costs down.
“It has absolutely been worth it,’’ said Guild, a military brat who settled in Columbia more than 40 years ago. “You could not pay me enough to substitute for the joy of doing work I love and work that is driven by people’s love of their backyards and their communities.’’
A 1975 University of South Carolina law school graduate, Guild has worked as a full-time environmental attorney for citizens and environmental groups longer than anyone else in the state. He began his practice in the early 1980s.
Through the years, he has drawn criticism from corporations that have said Guild is too hard-line and they have labeled his clients as people who don’t understand mainstream issues. But conservationist Jay James disagreed. He said the state needs more people like the passionate and well-schooled Guild.
“When Bob tells a judge, he’s just an English major, watch out,’’ James said. “He will soon convince you that he has a good grasp for engineering, environmental science, limnology, ecology and other technical’’ fields.
Guild has been at the forefront of some of the state’s biggest environmental cases, including successful fights to close a Sumter County hazardous waste dump and a York County toxic waste incinerator.
In the Sumter County case, Guild helped persuade a court to close the Pinewood facility after a 15-year effort. During that time, Guild worked closely with grass-roots citizens organizations that said the dump was dangerous to their community and to Lake Marion. He praised those citizens for their efforts prior to his involvement.
More recently, he scored a victory in the S.C. Court of Appeals that could soon require improved burial practices at Barnwell County’s low-level nuclear waste dump, which is leaking radioactive material. Through court cases, he also has stopped poultry and hog farms that neighbors said would ruin groundwater and contaminate rivers.
Guild, who is married to Sistercare director Nancy Barton, said he’s encouraged that the environmental movement has grown in South Carolina. At one time, he and the late Jimmy Chandler were the state’s only full-time environmental attorneys who represented citizens groups.
“The conservation movement in South Carolina has just become enormously sophisticated and professional in the years I’ve been working in this area,’’ said Guild, who spends his spare time paddling the North Fork of the Edisto River. “It is pleasant to see that there are 20-year-olds out there picking up the cudgel and taking on the fight.’’
The Conservation Voters “Green Tie’’ luncheon is held annually to recognize conservation advocates and raise money for the organization, which supports environmental causes in the Legislature. The group raised $64,000 at Wednesday’s luncheon.
This story was originally published September 18, 2014 at 9:42 AM with the headline "Veteran Columbia conservation lawyer enjoys the fight."