Construction landfill proposed for Clio

BENNETTSVILLE — Although a proposed landfill near Wallace is on hold in Marlboro County, another landfill has been proposed in Clio.

A new waste management company from Florida recently approached the Marlboro County Planning Commission about creating a construction and demolition landfill.

Marlboro County District 2 Councilman Jeff Quick said he didn’t know much about that proposal right now, but hoped to learn more in a work session Tuesday night before the regular county council meeting.

But county council focused on revitalization and expansion projects within the county during the work session. The proposed landfills weren’t discussed.

County administrator Cecil Kimrey said there’s really not much to say about the latest proposed landfill for Marlboro County.

“That’s not made it to council yet,” he said. “That’s just before the planning commission, I believe.”

Council is just focusing now on what it can do to improve Marlboro County, Kimrey said.

“Nothing has come before council” about the proposed Clio landfill, he said.

Quick said he thinks the company offering the Clio proposal is called C&D Construction, and specializes in construction debris. He said he doesn’t think the location of its landfill would have an effect on the solid waste landfill proposed for Wallace.

A construction debris landfill is not a new idea in Marlboro County. Quick said years ago, when Bennettsville was being renovated, the county entertained an idea to build a landfill to house the debris from that project and others like it within the county.

On June 24, Marlboro County residents overwhelmingly voted “no” to the proposed 900-acre Wallace landfill in non-binding referendum.

Members of the group Concerned Citizens for Marlboro County said they think the landfill will hurt the environment and bring down property values.

A letter was sent to S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control Solid Waste Management division manager Joan Litton requesting a demonstration of need for a solid waste facility in Marlboro County on behalf of an unknown corporation. Since that time, MRR Sandhills LLC has come forward to claim that demonstration of need request as part of their pre-permitting process for the proposed landfill.

DHEC approved a demonstration of need for a solid waste facility and said the maximum allowable amount of waste permitted per year would be 1,480,000 tons.

DHEC stipulated that the approval of the document in no way bypasses the county’s zoning consistency laws previously in place.

Under DHEC guidelines, MRR had 120 days from July 10, 2007, to move forward with the permitting process or the demonstration of need approval is nullified.

In response to DHEC’s approval of MRR’s request, Marlboro County Council filed a lawsuit against DHEC asking them to revoke the approval, or at least stay the process, which would prevent MRR from moving forward in the permitting process. The lawsuit against DHEC states that DHEC “did not take into account the proximity of landfills in North Carolina...”

On Jan. 2, however, DHEC granted a request from MRR to extend the approval to May 1 in light of MRR’s “diligent effort to obtain the necessary permit.”