Palmettos and Piles
Thanks to cheap disposal costs, scant regulation and a growing abundance of landfill space, South Carolina is fast becoming a favorite repository for out-of-state trash. According to the Washington-based National Solid Wastes Management Association, South Carolina ranks ninth in importing trash, behind Virginia and Georgia in the Southeast. Pennsylvania is No. 1. But an Associated Press report says South Carolina, with several huge new landfill projects on the horizon, is at risk of becoming the nation’s go-to dumping site.
It is no surprise that conservationists, residents and politicians are strongly against such a fate for the state, and are calling for a moratorium on all new landfill construction until a way can be found to limit trash imports (while preserving the much-needed revenue they provide).
Lee County’s landfill — the state’s largest — illustrates the dilemmas facing local officials and residents. The dump takes in about 1.5 million tons of garbage annually, 65 percent of it from the Northeast, according to the state. It also accounted for the bulk of all garbage brought to South Carolina from other states last year.
Bishopville residents complain about the odor, and landfill authorities say they’re working to fix it. But county officials consider the landfill a good neighbor. Through tipping fees and property taxes, the landfill accounts for 20 percent of the county’s $11 million budget and provides free disposal of the 15,000 tons of household garbage collected countywide.
“Financially, we would be in very tough shape without it,” said county treasurer Wayne Capell.
On Tuesday, a state Senate panel will consider a statewide moratorium on landfill permitting. The bipartisan measure would halt any potential expansion or creation of landfills until 2011. Given the plight of state and local governments in the current economy, it’s only natural that they would jump at the easy revenue dangled by waste companies wanting to build or expand landfills and other states wanting to ship out their trash. Is there a way to still capitalize on this revenue while balancing the interests of residents and the environment?
March 23rd, 2009 at 12:41 pm
It is understandable for a journalist who is not educated in solid waste terms to call a sanitary landfill a dump, but for journalists who are part of this industry to do it is unacceptable to me. You both should know better. Anyway, if the lure of out-of-state waste is due to scant regulations, then the rules should be revised to fix it. If a county or region does not want a mega-landfill, all it has to do is revise its solid waste management plan to prevent the landfill from being permitted. Let the local governments make their own choices and determine what is in their best interest financially and environmentally.
March 24th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Steve, this is an ongoing issue for our industry. How do we serve two fathers? The landfill money
machine and the not always cost effective Environmentalist. New Cap & Trade laws should be
an opportunity for our industry showcase Waste to Energy and Biomass plants to the world. Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) should be mention with Wind and Solar as the most cost effective way
to Energy Independence’s in reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and foreign sources of oil. Recovery of landfill gases for energy is a great alternative to venting the gases but let’s look up stream and prevent the greenhouse gases from ever being produced.
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