Living in the United States, I grew up believing that our elected and appointed government officials have a responsibility to act in the best interest of their constituents. Recently, I have realized, at least in the state of South Carolina, that this is not the case. The entire state has fallen under the shadow of DHEC, an organization that seems to be operating with no checks and balances.
As reported last week in The State, South Carolina is rapidly becoming the final resting place for much of our nation’s garbage. This is taking place due to DHEC’s flawed policies, which allow landfill permits to be issued without any actual consideration for county needs. Even though our state already has double the landfill capacity to meet our statewide needs, DHEC continues to grant permits that will allow the Palmetto State to become home to some of the largest landfills in the U.S. The waste industry has recognized that our state is vulnerable and has aggressively pursued building as many new landfills as quickly as possible in South Carolina. In cases where county councils have been resistant to allowing a landfill to be built, the waste industry has bullied them with threats and lawsuits. Their incentive is the billions of dollars which these “mega dumps” will generate for the waste industry, and which they will continue to generate for them for decades to come. Meanwhile, DHEC continues to grant unjustifiable permits.
County councils and citizens, who have very limited resources, are left facing a battle against an industry that can easily fund lawyers and lobbyists to push through any landfill which they aspire to build.
The citizens of South Carolina need to demand better from our elected officials and demand that they enact a landfill moratorium before the “Palmetto State” becomes the “Garbage State.”
Russell George
Hemingway
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