Landfill foes: Not in our backyards

Norma Field has her mind made up.

She doesn't want to see a new landfill built near her home, and she made her opinion known Wednesday at a community meeting hosted by Sheppard Construction of Mount Pleasant. The company is planning to build a construction and debris landfill on about 100 acres between Ravenel and Jacksonboro in the southernmost portion of Charleston County.

Field and about 80 area residents filed into Ellington Elementary School looking to learn more about the company's conceptual plans. Judging from the many grumbles, snickers and occasional outbursts, most of the residents weren't too keen on having a dump in their backyard.

"Go to Mount Pleasant," Field said. "That's what we say."

Only waste from construction sites, such as wallboard and concrete, would be allowed at the landfill, which would be off U.S. Highway 17 near Parkers Ferry Road.

The dump would have a 100-foot buffer of trees around so it's hidden from the highway and houses, and the county could establish a recycling center at its entrance. Sheppard Construction hasn't begun the permitting process.

Residents voiced concerns about the environmental impact and their property values; additional noise and traffic; the landfill's proximity to an 18th-century black cemetery; that the Sheppards don't live in the community; and whether the community would benefit.

The Rev. Charles Glover, president of the Wiltown Community Center, accused the Sheppards of being in cahoots with Charleston County, an allegation that Tre Sheppard denied.

Sheppard said his company has not been talking to county officials about possibly selling the proposed landfill to the county after it is up and running. County officials have also denied assisting the Sheppards.

But Glover wasn't convinced.

Charleston County Council recently decided to stop burning its garbage at an incinerator located in North Charleston. The county will instead bury its trash at the Bees Ferry landfill until 2024 when the dump fills up. After that, all household and municipal waste would go to a new dump that the county plans to build next to the Sheppards' proposed landfill.

To extend the lives of the landfills, the county plans to stop accepting construction and demolition waste from private haulers and contractors after June — a coincidence that didn't sit well with Glover since the Sheppards' dump would take that type of waste. "One hand washes the other," he said.

Richard and Donna Miller live about 400 feet away from the proposed landfill site. The Millers said they just recently stopped hearing the rumbles of trucks passing by as early as 6 a.m. to log the Sheppard's property.

They can only imagine what it would be like six days a week with trucks dumping construction waste at the planned new landfill.

Donna Miller said the loggers were bad enough. "That's a little taste of what we know we're going to hear," she said.

Parkers Ferry resident Albrenda Mitchell said that whatever it takes, "I'll fight it until the end."

Reach Tenisha Waldo at 937-5744 or twaldo@postandcourier.com.