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[/if ImageKingstree] The collective voice of opponents to a proposed Subtitle D landfill in the Nesmith area is growing and their latest message was heard Friday, November 28 in front of the Williamsburg County Courthouse.
Members of the Black River Kayakers staged an organized protest rejecting the proposal of the mega dump. Local residents, citizens from other counties and states, and the “Coalition of Concerned Citizens of Williamsburg,” a group formed to promote the protection of the natural resources and the lifestyle of the county, all joined them.
All oppose the fact that if the Williamsburg County Council is successful in entering into an agreement with MRR, a company who plans to operate the landfill, the site will ultimately take in more than 2 million tons of garbage per year from several states along the east coast. They also contend that the landfill will have a negative impact on the environment and its people, with effects eventually reaching far beyond the immediate area.
Despite federal regulations, there are still areas of concern with respect to environmental risk such as the reality of failure of Subtitle D landfill liners after the end of the liners’ design life (typically 50 years) and the potential negative environmental impacts that may result from such failures.
Francis McClary adds to this chilling equation, arguing the hydrology of the area doesn’t fit basic criteria. “The soils we have are not suitable for a landfill,” said the forester and Black River Kayaker. “The Department of Natural Resources, and the Soil Conservation Service have all said this is a bad idea. But DHEC doesn’t pay attention to them.”
Herbert Poston lives in Dalton, Georgia but was raised in Williamsburg County. To demonstrate how underground water systems can be affected from sites located miles away, Poston conveyed a story about a friend who lived in Hemingway. The gentleman thought he had struck oil when he discovered the liquid present in his well water but an investigation traced the oil to its origins 20 miles away.
Opponents believe a landfill would also jeopardize hunting activity and decrease land values to the point persons who may be interested in moving to the area would look elsewhere. Two years ago Russ George of Raleigh, North Carolina had the opportunity to make a company move.
His plan was to find an unspoiled place where he could build a passive solar home, establish an organic micro farm and raise his family. After considering communities in North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina, Russ choose Henry, a community three miles from Nesmith. George had no idea the landfill was being considered until recently. “Here I am trying to live a simpler, cleaner, and healthier life then one day I see a sign on the road that says “No Mega dump” and I wonder what that is about.” George decided to investigate the issue and learned more than he would have liked. “It’s kind of ironic,” said the supervisor over spiritual empowerment programs for middle school students. “We left a toxic place and end up in Williamsburg County. I couldn’t have picked a more potentially dangerous place to raise my family.” George added he has his concerns about how the issue has been handled. “I feel DHEC regulations are so weak right now, by the way they grant these determinations for needs, and the waste industry, who stands to make billions of dollars, recognizes this weakness and they are exploiting it. It’s like a kind of predatory approach on South Carolina,” said George. “It doesn’t matter where they want to do this, I’m opposed to it.”
The issue of air quality was also a big topic of conversation. According to an article by Daniel P. Duffy, P.E., an environmental engineer with URS Corp., the air-quality issue of highest concern is the landfill gas (LFG) generated by the landfill’s waste. Duffy explained LFG is extremely dangerous in high concentrations, leading to both asphyxiation and explosion dangers. Methane, a landfill gas, is odorless and not directly harmful to human health but Duffy added that in confined spaces the concentration of methane can accumulate until oxygen is displaced, leading to threat of suffocation. At high concentrations a single spark could explode methane. Also, carbon dioxide in itself does not represent a threat to the environment since it is already a major part of the earth’s atmosphere. However, it has been designated as a “greenhouse gas,” the primary potential cause of global warming. Recent Supreme Court rulings that the EPA can and should regulate carbon-dioxide emissions could be applied to nonpoint sources like landfills.
Besides potential environmental hazards, people’s lives are just as much at stake. James Scott, his family, and his neighbors could stand to lose the most from the mega dump. “There are people that worked hard at Wellman for 30 to 40 years,” said Scott. “They finally have a decent home and all they want to do is sit back and enjoy their lives. And the only thing our county government can offer them is a dump? This is a very poor county and instead of building from an industrial base, they want a dump. This goes against everything and even our school system, which is failing, will be affected,” Scott said, referring to enticing teachers to the area. “You can’t expect someone to attend, for example, Clemson or USC, get into $100,000 in debt, and then come to a dump to teach.” Scott added that drastic measures need to be taken at the county level. “We need to clean house, bring in a hired supervisor to straighten this mess out.”
The posters waving in front of the courthouse bore by a variety of declarations from “Kill the Fill” to “Don’t Dump on Williamsburg” and reflected a growing trend of concern, one that is slowly making its way across the state. Belvin Sweatt of Marlboro was present during the protest. For over a year Sweatt and his group have been in the forefront of a similar fight with MRR. His visit was one of support but also to invite the group to join him in a march scheduled for January. “We’re going to get in touch with all the groups throughout South Carolina that are fighting these mega dumps, plus coal and asphalt plants and other companies and come the middle of January, we plan to have 1,000 to 2,500 people marching on the State House steps in Columbia to show the state, and the legislatures from these counties that we are tired of our counties being referred to as the pay toilet of the nation,” said Sweatt. “We want something better for our counties and our state.”
While South Carolina is becoming one of many dump sites for the US, countries around the world are limiting or even banning landfill. For this reason our country (and our state) must consider alternative waste solutions such as recycling and alternative energy generation. “If we don’t have enough waste of our own then why don’t we work to reduce our waste stream,” said McClary. “Why isn’t the development board trying to find a business that will recycle here? We talk about jobs, jobs, jobs…let’s give our local people a chance at this?”
Williamsburg County residents are faced with a complex set of circumstances but if the opponents fighting the looming landfill are as determined as they seem, council may be wise to entertain other strategies for our own waste management and place the idea of a mega dump at the bottom of their list of solutions.
For information about the proposed landfill, contact Williamsburg County Supervisor Stanley Pasley at (843) 355-9321. For information about the Coalition of Concerned Citizens of Williamsburg you can contact them at P.O. Box 22, Nesmith, SC 29580, or email cccofw@yahoo.com, or visit their website at  HYPERLINK "http://www.williamsburgmegadump.com" www.williamsburgmegadump.com