AIKEN, S.C. — On Friday, August 16, on behalf of the nonprofit Friends of Horse Creek Valley, the South Carolina Environmental Law Project filed a challenge in Administrative Law Court to a landfill permit issued by the Department of Environmental Services (formerly part of the Department of Health and Environmental Control) for a Class 2 landfill located in the small community of Burnettown, east of North Augusta in Aiken County.

Hilltop, the permit applicant, 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 Horse Creek Valley area, adjacent to an old, closed landfill and Jefferson Elementary School.

The Department of Environmental Services issued the permit on July 17 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.

"Hilltop's new mega-sized facility would serve no benefit to our surrounding community,” said Courtney Crafton, a representative from Friends of Horse Creek Valley. “We would be forced to deal with every negative impact for the opportunity for one company to thrive. We want Horse Creek Valley to be given the opportunity to prosper in a way that benefits all residents and future generations."

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.

“As a South Carolinian and someone who has deep roots in the Aiken area, I understand firsthand the challenges faced by residents of Horse Creek Valley,” said Madison Martin, a staff attorney at the South Carolina Environmental Law Project. “This is not simply a legal battle; it's a fight for the heart and soul of a community. To allow another landfill in this area is a blatant disregard for the health and well-being of its residents.”

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.

"The Friends of Horse Creek Valley are grateful beyond words to the South Carolina Environmental Law Project for stepping in to protect and broadcast our community's valid apprehensions concerning the Rabbit Hill Class 2 Landfill,” said Crafton. “We wish to move our community in a forward flourishing direction rather than backwards by allowing yet another dump site directly by our homes and schools. When is enough, enough?"

“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."

*An earlier version of this press release stated that there were nine EPA-designated Superfund sites in this stretch of Aiken County. "Superfund" sites are widely known to the public as those sites on the EPA's National Priority List, of which there are only two in this area. However, the EPA has recognized seven more sites in the area that have been or are contaminated with harmful materials and are part of the EPA’s Superfund Enterprise Management System database. Data and more information can be found by searching the database here: Superfund Site Profile | Superfund Site Information | US EPA

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MEDIA CONTACTS
Michael G. Corley, Esquire
South Carolina Environmental Law Project
michael@scelp.org, (843) 527-0078

Courtney Crafton
Friends of Horse Creek Valley
lawcourtney15@gmail.com

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