Environmentalists took action Tuesday against a group of wealthy oceanfront landowners whose efforts to protect homes from rising seas depend on walls the property owners are accused of installing illegally at the expense of wildlife and the public beach.

The S.C Coastal Conservation League, in separate legal notices, said the sandbag walls could prevent federally protected sea turtles from nesting while also hurting the seashore at Debordieu, a gated community with one of the most erosion-damaged stretches of beach in the state.

The league sent a notice threatening to take the Georgetown County property owners, state regulators, federal agencies and a university professor to court in 60 days if the sandbag walls aren’t removed — or at the very least, studied more carefully to see how they affect wildlife.

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