The Issue

Horse Creek Valley (also known as Midland Valley) is a section of Aiken County comprised of several small communities including Burnettown, Bath, Langley and Clearwater. The valley is known for both its natural beauty and equestrian culture and for being an epicenter of dirty, polluting industries and past environmental disasters. An astounding nine EPA-designated contaminated sites are located within the four-mile stretch encompassing these communities, as well as several existing landfills and dumps.

Hilltop C&D LLC, a construction and demolition landfill company, currently operates a 6.5-acre construction and demolition landfill in another part of Aiken County. As that small landfill nears capacity, Hilltop has developed plans for a new 293-acre landfill called Rabbit Hill to be sited in the Bath/Burnettown area, adjacent to an old, closed landfill and Jefferson Elementary School.

The Department of Environmental Services issued a permit for the new facility on July 17, 2024 as a “replacement” for the existing 6.5-acre landfill, a designation which significantly eases the permitting process and burden. Without these loopholes, the new landfill could not and would not have been approved.
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The Legal Battle

On Friday, August 16, on behalf of the nonprofit Friends of Horse Creek Valley, the South Carolina Environmental Law Project filed a challenge to the permit in Administrative Law Court. A successful outcome to this permit challenge would result in cumulative environmental benefits, not just for the surrounding community, but for communities across the state that are at risk of having their health, environment and quality of life diminished by permit loopholes like this one.

For residents of Horse Creek Valley, reversal of DES’s decision would have far-reaching positive consequences. Residents have been desperate for relief from the excessive, cumulative burden of decades of pollution in the communities where they live, work and play.

“We look forward to challenging this permit in Administrative Law Court and standing up for this community and others like it across the state,” said Michael Corley, Senior Manager of Strategy at SCELP. “Protecting the area from a new mega landfill and closing this loophole in the permitting process would protect residents from an even greater pollution burden than they are already facing.“

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