The Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge — a 22-mile-long estuary stretching across northeastern Charleston County — is one of the most pristine and ecologically important places along the East Coast, but its future has been clouded by approved plans for a large subdivision next door that would be served by about 200 septic tanks.

This tragedy-in-the-making stemmed from governmental failures at multiple levels, but finally, some two decades later, a dogged effort by the state's conservation community has flipped the script.

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