Ron Barnett

rbarnett@greenvillenews.com

A manufacturers group in Pickens County is opposing a proposed coal ash landfill near Liberty, citing environmental and economic concerns.

Pickens County Council is scheduled to consider a resolution on the proposed landfill at its 6:30 p.m. meeting today.

Manufacturers Caring for Pickens County, a nonprofit organization that works to improve education, awareness of social responsibility and economic development in the county, issued a statement in advance of the meeting outlining its reasons for opposing the plans of MRR Pickens LLC to landfill thousands of tons of coal ash.

"MCPC (Manufactures Caring for Pickens County) is opposed to this landfill proposal due to the lack of any published study on the environmental impact, the economic impact, or the suitability of the current site to contain the toxins,” the statement says. “The transport method of coal ash to the site, the remoteness of this site to the power generation plants responsible are also concerns and unknown at this time.”

The state Department of Health and Environmental Control has approved the company’s plan to install a synthetic liner in the landfill it has been approved to build along State 93 and Cartee Road.

Such a lining would allow it to deposit a type of coal ash that is considered less toxic than the most dangerous type that's laden with toxic heavy metals.

But DHEC is awaiting more information from the Raleigh-based company on how much coal ash it would put in the landfill, where it would be coming from, and how it would ensure that it meets the less toxic standards.

The manufacturers group said it is “deeply concerned” in part because the proposed site is near many of their facilities at the Pickens County Commerce Park and along State 93.

“This will have a direct impact on our facilities as well as other businesses and residences in the area," the group said.

“It is inconceivable that such a project would be approved without considering the impact on the health and well-being of those most directly affected, not to mention the potential business and financial damage to companies located in the Commerce Park and other nearby areas.”

The company received approval to build a landfill there in 2007, which was to be designed for construction and demolition debris. But the landfill was never built because of the recession that followed, company officials told the county Planning Commission last year.

The company submitted a request to DHEC a few months ago, saying it had made tentative arrangements to undertake “a large disposal project” involving coal ash.

It told DHEC it needed “a significant increase” amount of material it was limited to receiving in its original permit, which was 70,500 tons per year.

The company has not responded to questions from The Greenville News.