Capital Rotary Club

As Congaree Riverkeeper for the last six years, Bill Stangler works in the Midlands to protect the environmental quality of three different rivers and their tributaries because “water is a common good,” as he explained at Capital Rotary’s Feb. 14 meeting.  Stangler (pictured with Rotarian Ann Elliott) is a former outdoors guide who studied ecology and river science at the University of South Carolina.  He now monitors water, wildlife habitat and recreation conditions on the Congaree, Lower Saluda and Lower Broad Rivers – including 90 miles of river, 2,000 miles of streams and five different counties in the watershed.  Stangler said preserving “our rights to our rivers” involves (1) outreach and education about issues facing rivers; (2) advocacy work and voluntary cleanups, plus water quality sampling; and (3) suing to enforce environmental laws when regulatory agencies fail to do the job.  Congaree Riverkeeper is a non-profit organization, one of six in South Carolina affiliated with the Waterkeeper Alliance, a global movement of on-the-water advocates who patrol and protect rivers and coasts all over the world.  One of Rotary International’s areas of focus is support for local solutions to bring clean water, sanitation and hygiene to more people every day.

The Boeing Company is proud to build the “airplane of the future” – its 787 Dreamliner – in South Carolina, and looks forward to continuing a rewarding partnership here for years to come.  Tommy Preston Jr., Director of National Strategy and Engagement and Government Operations at Boeing South Carolina, was Capital Rotary’s Jan. 10 guest speaker.  Preston is a native South Carolinian, a USC graduate, and formerly practiced law at Nexsen Pruet, LLC in Columbia.  He said Boeing’s aerospace campus in Charleston was made possible by commitment to workforce training, by the state’s non-union labor environment and by government flexibility in working together to solve any problems.  Boeing supports an estimated 9,000 direct and indirect Palmetto State jobs, works with 300 suppliers across the state, and invested about $2 billion in the Dreamliner final assembly and delivery facility.  The company also partners with local schools, the technical college system and the University of South Carolina to expand job opportunities and to advance aerospace products and services.  (Boeing Company photo)