A conservation group has appealed the state’s decision to allow buried sandbags to remain in front of four oceanfront houses as part of a university study. The Coastal Conservation League filed notice this week that it will also challenge the decision in federal court as a violation of the Endangered Species Act.

The board of the Department of Health and Environmental Control voted 3-2 in January to overturn a staff decision denying a request to allow the sandbags to remain so they could be part of a study by Paul Gayes, a professor of marine science at Coastal Carolina University.

Gayes was asked to conduct the study by the owners of four beach houses so they could claim an exemption from the state’s Beachfront Management Act, which only allows sandbags for temporary erosion control.