S.C. raises fees for radioactive waste landfill

COLUMBIA — South Carolina decided Tuesday to begin charging companies in other states more money to send low-level radioactive waste to a Barnwell County landfill.

South Carolina expects to collect an extra $750,000 during the last year the state-owned site can remain open to the nation's waste. Starting next summer, state law requires the site to accept waste only from South Carolina, New Jersey and Connecticut.

The Budget and Control Board on Tuesday approved increasing the disposal rates an average of 15 percent beginning July 1 for companies outside the three-state Atlantic Compact.

It is the biggest rate increase approved by South Carolina, said John Clark, director of the state Energy Office. "We're trying to get the max we can get," he said.

State Treasurer Thomas Ravenel suggested raising fees even more, but Clark said that could cause businesses in those states to store waste on their own property rather than pay for disposal.

A proposal to keep the 235-acre site open to the nation's waste until 2023 died in the state Legislature in March. Local officials had fought for the bill, saying the landfill's taxes, fees and high-paying jobs are vital to the local economy.