|
Dump angers a few citizens, but may cut construction cost
By Lindsay Danzell
Contributing Writer
A satellite image, available on Google Earth, has caused a flurry of commotion, a legal appeal and the possibility of shutting down a local business in Dorchester County.
The controversial image is of two ponds adjacent to the Affordable Waste landfill, located off Harrison Road near Ridgeville, which is restricted to taking only construction and demolition debris.
The Citizens of the Bend, a small group of local residents who have filed an appeal against the landfill, have racked up more than $10,000 in legal fees trying to rid the county of the relatively new landfill. They claim the ponds show the landfill is deeper than regulations allow and have been filled by seasonal-high ground water, which will lead to water contamination from landfill pollutants.
“Would you want a dump in your backyard? Neither do we,” said Rex Belvin, who lives two miles away from the landfill. “It makes our property worthless.”
Affordable Waste is a private landfill and, like all “construction and demolition” landfills, operates under different restrictions from multi-use landfills. The pit is not lined like a multi-use landfill and C&D landfills can only accept non-treated wood, steel, concrete and other materials that are non-hazardous to the environment.
Dorchester residents are not alone in their landfill concern. In a published report regarding C&D landfills, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control included a section on residential unease regarding the risk of groundwater contamination.
Appeals on commercial C&D landfill permits happen more often than not, said Joan Litton, DHEC solid waste permitting manager. The concerns expressed by the Citizens of the Bend are consistent with previous concerns at other C&D sites, she added.
The DHEC report attempted to alleviate citizen anxiety by explaining C&D landfills, by law, can only accept non-hazardous, non-contaminated waste.
The Muckenfuss family has made a living by taking in everybody’s trash, said Nell Muckenfuss, who owns the Affordable Waste landfill with her husband Herman. The Muckenfuss family formerly owned the Oak Ridge multi-use landfill in Dorchester County and, in 2005, created the debated C&D dump a mile or so down the road.
Nell Muckenfuss said the ponds visible in the satellite image are sediment collectors designed to leech landfill pollutants from runoff to prevent ground water from becoming contaminated.
A construction and debris landfill offers a cost-effective alternative for construction companies, Muckenfuss said. Instead of paying upwards of $40 per ton of waste, contractors pay only $20 or so at a C&D landfill.
C&D landfills help keep construction prices lower and profit margins higher, said Will Sneed, general manager for Cannon Container. Without the landfills, construction prices would go up and affect the customers, he added.
One waste disposal company cited the environmental benefit of C&D landfills. The landfills provide an alternative to the multi-use landfills and preserve valuable space, said Stephen Riggi, general manager of Low Country Wrecking Corp. Although contractors save money using C&D landfills, the real benefit is the positive impact on the environment by separating out reusable and biodegradable material, he added.
“(A C&D landfill) helps the community as far as disposal,” Riggi said.
To operate, landfills must acquire a DHEC permit by meeting specifications including sitting a minimum of 2 feet above the seasonal-high ground water table; minimum setback distance of 100 feet from property lines; and adherence to county waste management plans and regulation of materials disposed of at the landfill. DHEC issued a permit to Affordable Waste in January 2006.
Muckenfuss admitted the landfill was too deep in some of the pits where the sand was mined at the time DHEC issued the permit, but she said they are working to fill in those areas.
“We are certainly not going to jeopardize everything that we’ve worked for to contaminate the environment,” Muckenfuss said. “We paid professional people to give us the plan per DHEC specs.”
The Citizens of the Bend’s lawyer, Bob Guild of Columbia, could not be reached for comment.
Affordable Waste is Dorchester County’s only long-term C&D landfill, according to DHEC’s Web site. The Dorchester County Web site directs contractors to dispose of C&D waste at multi-use landfills in Oakbrook and St. George.
In 2005, 2.9 million tons of construction and demolition debris was generated in South Carolina, DHEC reported. Nearly 1.8 million tons of the C&D debris was disposed of in C&D landfills.
From 1990 to 2005, the population of Dorchester County grew more than 30%. Nearly 30% of the county’s population is employed in the construction or manufacturing industries, according to the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Business Research.
A judge is expected to rule on the case against Affordable Waste in the coming months, although neither Muckenfuss nor the citizens could give an exact time table. Each side was confident of a win.
“(The Citizens of the Bend) have a right to have a judge look at the paperwork,” Muckenfuss said.
However, having experienced a multitude of cases asking to repeal permits on C&D landfills, Litton could not recall one successful case.
|
E-Mail This Article
Printer-Friendly Version