Philip D. Brown

Richmond County Daily Journal

A private company’s plans to locate a “mega-dump” landfill just across the South Carolina line from Hamlet in Marlboro County haven’t been nixed just yet, but it looks a lot less likely they will be successful.

The Marlboro Herald-Advocate of Bennettsville recently reported the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control has issued a draft decision that won’t allow Sandhills MMR to proceed with the necessary permitting process to bring the large landfill to the county.

A 30-day public comment period is set to expire next week, then a final decision will be rendered.

While it isn’t a final determination, it is “a somewhat significant step” in the process, SC DHEC spokesman Thom Berry told the newspaper.

According to the article, there were four conditions the company had to meet to proceed with permitting, including a demonstration of need, consistency with state and county solid waste management plans and consistency with 1,000-foot buffer zone requirements.

All of these conditions were met except consistency with county zoning, according to the SC DHEC.

Citizens for Marlboro County, a civic group that formed to oppose the location of the landfill in the county, member John Nickoless said the group gathered more than 3,000 signatures opposing the plan, and a county referendum on it lost by a margin of 93-7.

“... We love South Carolina and Marlboro County and our City of Bennettsville, with our slogan ‘It’s Good to Be Home,’ and want to keep our slogan true,” Nickoless said. “In order to keep our county and South Carolina’s air, water, soil and clean, all of us must stop one of the largest mega-dumps in the United States of America from coming into Marlboro County.”

He said locating the landfill in Marlboro County would turn it into “a garbage state instead of a tourist state.”

The proposed site was on 900-plus acres owned by Z.V. Pate, Inc., a partner of MRR Sandhills, in the northernmost part of the county near the Richmond County line.

A similar proposal to bring the mega-dump to Richmond County was defeated in 2007.

Staff Writer Philip D. Brown can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 32, or by e-mail at pbrown@yourdailyjournal.com.