11 Horry County mines operated without permits. Could one of them harm a nature preserve?
An oversight at the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control allowed 11 Horry County sand and dirt mines to operate without proper permits over the past three years.
And one of those operations has caught the attention of area environmental groups, who worry the mine could harm the Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve and the rare wildlife that live there.
The mine is located off Edge Road and borders the nature preserve.
The preserve is one of the only places in the world where Venus fly traps live naturally. It is also home to the red-cockaded woodpecker, among other species of animals.
Trapper Fowler, a project manager with the Coastal Conservation League, said the mine could cause water to drain from the preserve’s Carolina Bays.
That could make the preserve more susceptible to wildfires, he said.
“If the hydrology is changed, it could lead to those bays being dried down unseasonably,” Fowler said.
Carolina Bays are rare types of wetlands found exclusively along the Atlantic Seaboard and foster some of the most unique ecosystems in the world. Fowler said if they lose the water they usually hold, the rare plants such as inkberry bushes could dry out.
“Those plants are the ones that are highly volatile and when those ignite via fire, they’re explosive,” Fowler said. “They flare up and they tend to be more flammable.”
DHEC in recent months has worked to rectify the permitting oversight and has informed mine operators they must stop digging.
But the mine’s operators are now seeking an additional permit allowing them to dig to a depth of 50 feet over 24 of the 33 acres it owns at the site. The sand and clay they mine will be used for construction and would be in high demand in fast-growing places like Horry County.
The CCL and the South Carolina Environmental Law Project have pledged to fight it to protect the preserve.
“I’m going to fight like hell to keep them from devastating the rest of Lewis Ocean Bay,” said Lauren Megill Milton, an attorney with SCELP who’s representing CCL.
How we got here
The mine operators are technically off the hook in this case.
Rather, the fault lies with DHEC.
In South Carolina’s eight coastal counties, DHEC issues a type of general permit allowing small mines - those less than five acres - to operate. Larger mines must receive individual permits.
DHEC’s general permit acts as a sort of umbrella.
Mine operators still have to apply for coverage, but the process is streamlined. DHEC, in turn, has to renew its general permit with the Environmental Protection Agency every few years.
In October, when the conservation league filed a challenge over the Edge Road mine, DHEC realized that its general permit had expired in December 2018.
The agency sent letters to mine operators telling them to stop digging.
“With this action, mining activities allowed by the coverage shall cease until further notification,”the letter said.
That meant other mines covered under the general permit were operating illegally, too.
Ten other mines in Horry County, Megill Milton said, have also operated under DHEC’s expired general permit. T
The mines are located in rural parts of Horry County in the Conway, Aynor and Loris areas.
“There’s at least a handful for Horry County that were issued (general permits) that shouldn’t have been issued those and should have undergone a different level of scrutiny,” Megill Milton said.
As of presstime, a DHEC spokesperson had not responded to questions about the agency’s lapse in permitting the mines.
The mine near Lewis Ocean Bay
The mine bordering the preserve is located off Edge Road, which ultimately connects to the S.C. 90 corridor.
In September, the company Soilutions received DHEC’s general permit to dig 20 feet deep over five acres before the agency realized its lapse and canceled it.
In February, the company applied for an individual permit to dig 50 feet deep over the 24 acres.
That would ultimately turn the site into a small lake, according to documents the company filed with DHEC.
Operators suggested in the application that they may donate the lake and the surrounding land to the state or Horry County for use as an extension of the nature preserve.
Ethan Epps, who owns Soilutions and the mine site, declined to comment for this story beyond saying his company was in compliance with DHEC regulations. He referred questions to Craig Kennedy, a consultant working for the company.
Kennedy, in an email Monday, said Soilutions mined the property from mid-September to mid-October when DHEC notified the company that its permit had lapsed. After ceasing operations, Kennedy said, the company continued to remove the material it had already mined from the site. A DHEC inspector, he said, allowed the company to do so.
Mine operators continued removing already-dug material through mid-November when a different DHEC official told them to cease, Kennedy said.
The company stopped its operations at that point, he said.
Kennedy expressed confidence the company would win its individual permit to continue mining the site. If it doesn’t, the company will find a different way to use the land, he said.
DHEC is accepting public comment on the permit application through March 9.
The CCL, in an email to its members, urged them to submit comments to DHEC and asked the agemcy to hold a public hearing about the mine.
Could the mine harm the nature preserve?
TheCCL’s Fowler said the biggest threat the mine poses to the preserve is disrupting its hydrology - how water moves through the land.
The mine, because it will be dug below the area’s water table, could cause wetlands to drain, changing the ecosystem. T
That could make the area more susceptible to wildfire, he said.
DNR already conducts controlled burns in the preserve to reduce the likelihood of out-of-contol fires. Fowler said the mine could make the agency’s job harder.
“DNR is already pinched for burning that area because of all the surrounding smoke-sensitive areas,” he said. “They kind of depend on those bays to be wet during the cooler months.”
Additionally, Fowler said, the mine could disrupt the habitat of the red cockaded woodpecker, which calls the preserve home.
“They don’t know property lines which is why this is a big deal,” he said of the birds.
Kennedy, in his email, said the mine wouldn’t harm the nature preserve. He said Soilutions hired a biologist to survey its property before it began mining.
That biologist, according to the company, noted one red cockaded woodpecker flying over the site, but did not find any of the trees the bird nests in on its property.
“There are (woodpecker) cavity trees within the (Lewis Ocean Bay) preserve, and based upon the wildlife biologist’s assessment, (the woodpeckers) will continue to have sufficient forging area within the preserve,” Kennedy said. “(The woodpeckers) will not suffer from any loss of critical habitat related to the Edge Road Mine.”
Kennedy also noted that the lake the mine will leave behind could be used in the future to fight wildfires, if necessary.
DNR spokesperson Greg Lucas said the agency was aware of the Edge Road mine.
He said the agency occasionally opposes mining near its land, Lucas said, but didn’t respond to a question on whether DNR would oppose the one bordering the preserve.
What happens now?
Megill Milton said she plans to contest Soilutions permit application to DHEC.
After the public comment period ends March 9, the agency will consider public input and determine if it should award a permit. The agency, in a public notice, said it may hold a public meeting about the mine if enough people voice concerns.
Megill Milton said she agreed to fight the permit on the CCL behalf because she doesn’t think mines should be dug so close to parks and nature preserves.
“I just don’t think we need mining around (parks and nature preserves),” she said. “We should be working harder to protect those. It doesn’t make sense to me.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated to correct a spelling error regarding the Edge Road mine.
This story was originally published February 28, 2022 at 1:04 PM with the headline "11 Horry County mines operated without permits. Could one of them harm a nature preserve?."
