EDITORIAL

A rational decision has been made in the recent saga of a proposed coal ash dump in Pickens County. The county’s Planning Commission last week suspended a land-use permit for the site that initially was designed for construction debris, but since was changed into a landfill for the controversial coal byproduct.

In its action, the Planning Commission said the permit was approved with the understanding that the landfill would contain construction debris and that the company, MRR Pickens, had never indicated it would put “coal combustion residuals,” or coal ash, into the fill.

The decision faces a potential appeal, and it’s not clear exactly what the outcome will be, Greenville News writer Ron Barnett reported. But the suspension was an important pause put in a process that caught many Pickens County residents and officials off guard and moved more quickly than it should have.

The state Department of Health and Environmental Control has approved MRR Pickens LLC’s request for a synthetic liner that would allow the company to dump coal ash in the landfill. That’s a decision that should not have caught local officials or residents off guard.

Yet county officials that approved the landfill said they had no idea the company was planning to accept coal ash, and some were left wondering why DHEC did not solicit public comments on the change.

DHEC still is considering a request from the company to dramatically increase the volume of waste that it can put into the landfill. That process will include a public comment period before a decision is made on whether to expand the volume.

There is widespread opposition to the plan, including from county residents, the county legislative delegation, and a local manufacturer’s group. If that opposition to the proposal persists – and there is every reason to believe that it will – DHEC has a responsibility to listen closely to residents.

North Carolina just fought a long battle with Duke Energy about coal ash in that state, where the hazardous material was a potential environmental hazard. Although not all coal ash is created equal, Pickens County residents had the right to know that a company was changing its plans for the landfill and that DHEC had approved a change to the plan that would let the landfill accept coal ash.

Such communication would be essential even if coal ash were not part of the new plan and the company were simply seeking to put more construction debris in the landfill.

Coal ash contains contaminants such as arsenic, lead, mercury, selenium, cadmium and chromium, and it has been linked to an increased risk of cancer.

There are two takeaways from this fight.

First, communication is essential when government agencies are approving plans that have a potentially negative health or environmental impact. Residents need to be able to have all the information available so they can make reasoned decisions over what they want in their neighborhood.

Second, DHEC needs to listen to local residents. If there is tremendous opposition to this plan from not just residents but nearly everyone involved, then there is a valid reason to reject the company’s plans to expand its use of this landfill and bring in a substance other than what was originally authorized.

This situation was not handled well at the outset, but it’s still not too late to fix those missteps.