Marlboro County residents protest proposed landfill

By: Jamie Rogers | SCNow
Published: May 11, 2008

Two months after marching on the Statehouse to show opposition to a proposed landfill, residents came out for a protest Saturday in front of the Marlboro County courthouse.
Armed with signs and loud voices, protesters told residents to take a stand against the project and urged Marlboro County Council members to do the same.
Former Bennettsville Mayor Lucy Mills Parsons said she opposes the landfill, which has been dubbed by many protesters as a megadump.
Marlboro County Council has the power to protect the area from the landfill by updating the county’s waste management plan, but that body hasn’t done so, Parsons said.
In 2003, the council met with a contractor to update the plan, but never completed the process, and has a plan on file from 2001 with the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, Parsons said.
“(The 2003) plan is the stronger plan,” she said. “Neither of them, without some changes, will protect us from (the landfill).”
Parsons said all the council has to do is complete a plan that states in clear language that the county doesn’t need a facility of this size.
The proposed site for the landfill is about 900 acres near Wallace, which is in the northern part of Marlboro County.
Protesters say the landfill would bring in tons of waste from across the United States.
“We don’t have to take waste in that volume when we don’t produce but 11 municipal tons a year and we have our waste needs met,” she said.
There’s not much time for the council to make a decision because new laws will go into effect at the end of May that will make it more difficult to oppose the landfill, she said.
“I don’t see the county council demonstrating that they even know what’s going on,” she said. “They are just sitting back, doing nothing. Not taking action is an action and it’s very insulting behavior.”
Bennettsville resident Brett Barnes said he is protesting the project because of environmental concerns.
“I’m here because I don’t want to be poisoned,” he said. “If that dump comes, it’s going to get into our ground water and into our soil. We are hoping to raise public awareness, but we mainly hope to influence our county council to keep this thing out of here. If they don’t vote to keep it out, it’s going to come, regardless of what we want.”

Marlboro County residents protest proposed landfill

Share This:

More from this channel:

Reader Comments

Deal of the Day

Weather

Latest News Video

Things to Do

Links We Like