Council surprise

Charleston County Council members who have been considering a proposed construction-waste landfill in Adams Run were apparently surprised to learn that there's already such a landfill in the county, with tons of remaining capacity.

About 40 million tons, enough to last perhaps a century.

"What do you know? We do have a landfill in Charleston County," said Councilman Joe McKeown. "This changes things."

A council committee was scheduled to vote this evening on the Adams Run landfill proposed by Tre Sheppard of Mount Pleasant. The items related to the landfill rezoning have been removed from the agenda and the issue postponed, at Sheppard's request.

"We were told, inadvertently, that Spring Grove (Landfill) was not in Charleston County," said Council Chairman Teddie Pryor, who blamed the mix-up on a staff error. "We're getting all that stuff researched so that we can make a prudent decision."

He said the six-month deferral requested by Sheppard will allow for more time to negotiate conditions, meet with neighbors and allow for more thorough county research.

"I want this to be a win-win for everybody," Sheppard said.

He said there's clear need for another construction-waste landfill in the county, considering that the county closed the construction-waste section of Bees Ferry Landfill to third-party haulers. And Sheppard said a national corporation shouldn't be able to monopolize the local market.

Some landfill opponents, and council members opposed to the Sheppard plan, were upset by the delay in voting on his plan. The issue also was deferred at a Dec. 3 meeting.

"The public should be outraged," said Councilman Dickie Schweers. "We're torturing the citizens out there."

Committee votes on the landfill zoning issues previously were deferred in February and May. Several public hearings have been held.

Landfill opponent Wilbur Jones said he thinks the landfill vote was postponed because the opponents were poised to win.

"That's exactly what I think," he said. "I thought we had the votes, and was looking forward to the meeting Thursday."

Pryor, who has made many supportive comments about Sheppard's plan but said Wednesday he hasn't made up his mind on the issue, said he thinks the vote could have gone in favor of Sheppard's plan, and opponents should be happy it was deferred.

The landfill proposal calls for a 102-acre site for construction and demolition waste on a 313-acre property located on U.S. Highway 17 near Parkers Ferry Road. The county owns 750 acres of land surrounding the site, and had considered using it for a household-waste landfill, but recently decided to sell that property.

Hundreds of residents and property owners in the area, along with the Coastal Conservation League and MeadWestvaco, oppose the Sheppard construction-waste landfill plan.

Supporters on County Council have said it could be helpful to have a site in that part of the county, and they like Sheppard's pledge to recycle 60 percent of the construction waste before it reaches his landfill.

McKeown and some other council members have said it's important to have a construction-waste landfill within the county, partially as a site for hurricane-related debris if a major storm hits.

That's why it may seem surprising that, after months of debate on the Adams Run proposal, some county officials just became aware that 178-acre Spring Grove Landfill is in the county, in North Charleston.

The landfill, owned by the corporation Republic Services, already has an agreement with the county to handle hurricane debris, officials there said.

James Amick Jr., president for the South Carolina and Charlotte area for Republic Services, said there's so much capacity left at Spring Grove the company has "mothballed" the Pepperhill Landfill in Dorchester County, which also accepts construction waste.

"There really is no need" for more capacity, he said.

Pryor said that if a bad hurricane were to hit, it could be difficult to have Spring Grove be the main site for debris. Long-term, he questioned the estimate by Republic Services that it would take 100 years or more to reach capacity.

"From what I understand, Spring Grove only has 9 million cubic yards of capacity," Pryor said.

Jeff Forslund, general manager of Spring Grove, said the landfill's capacity was 9 million cubic yards when Republic bought the site, but the company received an amended permit two years ago setting the capacity at 27 million cubic yards. Two cubic yards of landfill space holds about three tons of construction waste, he said.

"There is no shortage of construction and demolition space in Charleston County," Jones said. "There are just too many holes in this deal."

Coming Sunday

With its trash-burning incinerator set to close by the end of the year, Charleston County looks to dramatically increase its recycling rate, which is low compared with some other places in the country. In News

Reach David Slade at 937-5552 or dslade@postand courier.com. Reach Diane Knich at 937-5491 or dknich@postandcourier.com.