PELION, SC (WIS) -
PELION, SC (WIS) – The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control's backlog of permits could be a lack of resources and priority troubles, according to an activist and an attorney.
This week, DHEC Director Catherine Templeton said the agency had more than 500 environmental permits that have expired, which she said is a result of past administration. Templeton started her new position in March.
However, Sierra Club environmental activist Andy Yasinsac thinks the state agency's backlog was created because some permits could be harder to investigate than others.
"The permits that are more difficult tend to be the ones not reissued," Yasinsac told WIS on Thursday, adding that these permits tend to be "sizable ones."
However, Templeton said the issue started with money loss and lack of business management when backlogged permits were being ignored. Templeton said the reasons for the backlog are "two-fold" and include a "resource issue" and "not being a priority from the top."
At this point, Templeton said DHEC can lose touch with what's going on at each facility when permits go unnoticed and the public gets pushed out of the process.
Yasinsac, who is a former DHEC agent, said permits are supposed to be reissued at least six months prior to expiration dates. Facilities can continue to operate until DHEC takes an action to renew the current permit, issue a permit with more "stringent conditions" or deny a permit.
But in the case of the C.E. Taylor facility in Pelion, Yasinsac said this is a prime example of a difficult environmental permit being set aside while DHEC agents tackle less rigorous applications.
C.E. Taylor is a sewage dump in Pelion and has been in operation since 1989. Its recent permit expired Sept. 30, 2009, after going into effect Jan. 1, 2000. Annually, C.E. Taylor sent reports to DHEC as required, but now, Yasinsac, as well as several residents and a Columbia attorney presume C.E. Taylor's sewage operation is contaminating wells used for drinking water.
In a letter addressed to Templeton on March 27, two Pelion residents asked for her assistance in the C.E. Taylor case because they want to stop pollution in their backyards. The letter also referenced politics as a reason for why C.E. Taylor has been in business so far.
"We feel sure you will find poor planning, poor oversight, questionable inspection, and poor advice given to the operator, as well as buckling to political pressure," the letter stated.
Yasinsac, who is a former DHEC agent, said applications are
supposed to be submitted at least six months prior to expiration dates.
Facilities can continue to operate until DHEC takes an action to renew the
current permit, issue a permit with more "stringent conditions" or
deny a permit.
"DHEC has not obtained information on where that contaminated groundwater goes," Yasinsac said. "It is a difficult thing to accomplish. They haven't come close to accomplishing that."
The residents were told C.E. Taylor would not operate longer than 20 years.
Frank Taylor, owner at C.E. Taylor, did not want to comment Thursday.
Attorney Roy Shelley was hired by numerous Pelion residents to investigate whether C.E. Taylor's operations were in fact contaminating their drinking water. No lawsuit has been filed, but Shelley said they are forced to do their own investigation.
"DHEC is conscientious, but is limited by its resources," Shelley said, adding the agents he's worked with in the past have been known to do "the right thing."
"DHEC is caught in the middle, and they don't have the resources to address all the issues."
Moving forward, Templeton said each program within the backlogged permits will have an action plan to address the permits in each area. Currently, DHEC has more than 3,000 permits.
C.E. Taylor's draft permit is expected to be released no later than Monday and a public hearing scheduled in the coming weeks.
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