Williamsburg County Council held a special community meeting Thursday night at Nesmith Baptist Church to address residents’ environmental concerns of the proposed county landfill.
The site is called “Big Woods” and is situated along the CSX railroad, about midway between Nesmith and Turkey Creek Road.
The site selection has caught Nesmith residents by surprise. The first public mention of the plan occurred at the county council meeting Aug. 26.
Williamsburg County Supervisor Stanley Pasley encouraged the several hundred residents to meet with the Department of Health and Environmental Control and MRR Williamsburg LLC representatives.
The officials addressed the crowd as a whole, per their requests. There was a line of people at the microphone to comment or question, and few identified themselves.
One resident asked if the officials could guarantee that chemicals in the landfill wouldn’t poison residents. And it was noted by DHEC and company representatives that there has never been a leak in the landfills of this state of this type.
Another resident asked, “If people are smelling the landfill and get sick, who will foot the bills?”
Nelson Chandler, an attorney who grew up in the area, said the comments and promises given by company representatives were meaningless, since they weren’t written in the contract. “If it weren’t so tragic, it would be comical,” he said. “Litter, road traffic and condition, odor — these are not addressed in the contract.”
It was noted that the total waste produced in county amounted to about 38,000 tons, whereas the new landfill would be permitted for 2,375,000 tons.
Pasley said the council had three options: one, to do nothing, whereupon DHEC would close the old landfill and fine the county; two, to ship out the waste, which was cost prohibitive; or three, contract with a company to do the county’s own waste for free while making the landfill a source of revenue for the company and the county.
“I would never do anything that I thought would risk the health and welfare of the people of any part of this county,” he said.
Williamsburg County has a consent agreement with the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, allowing it to continue use of the present landfill near Salters as long as progress is being made on the new site. The timeline for the new site is about two to three years.
The council will have third and final reading at 6 p.m. Oct. 2 during its regular monthly meeting.
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