News Release:

In administrative law court, the organization Cross Keys Against National Garbage Organization (CKANGO) and individuals Hal Stribling, Sandra S. Satterfield, and others, have petitioned the board of South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) to reverse the decision, by the staff of DHEC, to permit the Union County municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill. The permit was issued June 8, 2000.

The permit was issued for a landfill of 84 acres, with a capacity of about 18 million tons and a height of about 200 feet above the ground at the landfill pit. At its present rate of garbage production, Union County alone would take about 2500 years to fill the landfill. Union County plus three adjacent small counties would require about 600 years to fill the landfill.

Based on these numbers, the landfill looks like a speculative, for-profit venture to primarily profit the actual constructor and operator, Republic Services of Kentucky. Apart from a small fee charged by Union County, no monies will benefit Union County, the State of South Carolina, or persons other than shareholders of Republic. At normal rates for garbage placement in the landfill, $500 million to $1 billion in gross revenues will result from this landfill, alone, not to benefit the locale.

Petitioners live, work, own and use property, travel, engage in recreational activities, breathe the air, drink and use surface and groundwater, eat food and use natural resources in proximity to the site of the proposed landfill and on transportation routes to or from said facility. They are informed and believe that their interests will be adversely affected by the proposed operation of said facility. The operation of this facility will cause the generation of noise and the discharge of odors, gases, dust, particulates and vectors into the air which will be transported by means of atmospheric dispersion and other means from the landfill onto the property owned and used by Petitioners. Such noise, odors, dust, gases, particulates will harm Petitioners' health and welfare, will reduce the value of Petitioners property, will unreasonably interfere with their use and enjoyment of their own and other property and natural resources in the area near the proposed landfill.

The operation of this facility will cause discharge of pollutants into and contamination of ground water and surface water below and down-gradient from the landfill. The contamination of ground water and surface water from the landfill will disperse by means of hydraulic and other processes from the landfill onto property owned or used by Petitioners where it will pose an increased risk of harm to Petitioners' health and welfare and the quality of the natural resources used and enjoyed by Petitioners' property. Truck traffic to and from the landfill will harm Petitioners' health, safety and welfare and will interfere with Petitioners' use and enjoyment of their property and natural resources, as well as reducing the value of said property. Such truck traffic will expose Petitioners to noise, dust, odors, vectors and unsafe road conditions and will increase Petitioners' risk of being the victim of traffic accidents.

The permitting of this facility capacity is contrary to DHEC's exprsssed objectives of preserving the State's natural resources by limiting the number of landfills to those for which a need is demonstrated. Permitting this proposed facility will expose the public and the natural resources of the Cross Keys area to unwarranted and unnecesary risk of harm from the transport and disposal of vast quantities of wastes which are hazardous to human health and the environment and which are not generated either in the Cross Keys community, Union County, the region or the State.

The proposed facility site fails to conform with the surrounding environment and with future development of the site and area. The championship Musgrove Mill Golf Club is located just across the Enoree River from the proposed site. The SC Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism has designated the nearby Musgrove Mill State Park on the Enoree river as the statewide center for Revolutionary War information, education and tourism. The Enoree River coridor near the proposed site has been designated "the Enoree Gateway" with established canoe trails and a planned hiking path linking the State's coast and mountains. The area of the proposed site is undeveloped, quiet, rural residential and timber lands used extensively for hunting, fishing and natural-state outdoor recreation. The operation of the proposed landfill will not conform with existing and future uses of this site and area.

DHEC failed to provide Petitioners and other members of the public with an adequate opportunity to view, comment and be heard in order to protect their interests prior to the decision to issue this permit. Notwithstanding notice of the availability of the permit application for public review, DHEC failed to make the complete application available for such review until mere days before the public hearing on the proposed permit; DHEC allowed the permit applicant to make numerous material changes to the permit application during and after the public comment period; and DHEC denied Petitioners' request for an extension of the public comment period to allow adequate opportunity to review and comment on the permit application, as finally amended and approved. Such actions deny Petitioners' rights to due process of the law.

In order to continue this fight, anyone interested in saving the environment can make a contribution to CKANGO, P.O. Box 161, Cross Anchor, S. C. 29331. Additional questions and comments can be addressed to Hal Stribling via e-mail at halstr@PRTCNET.COM.