Horry County’s landfill expansion plan hits a turning point. Six things to know

A proposal to expand Horry County’s landfill by filling more than 100 acres of wetlands drew sustained opposition from residents and environmental groups before county leaders redirected funding away from the project. Here is how the story unfolded.

FULL STORIES: ‘Garbage juice,’ flooding: What are impacts of Horry County landfill filling wetlands; Horry County approves $1B budget, reallocates funding from landfill expansion

Key takeaways:

• The Horry County Solid Waste Authority’s proposal to fill 102.4 acres of freshwater wetlands near Highway 90 raised alarms about flooding, polluted waters and habitat loss, with residents along Sterritt Swamp warning of impacts following past flooding from Hurricane Florence.
• The expansion was pitched as a way to provide capacity for 23.4 million tons of non-divertible waste over the next 45 years, addressing the needs of a county projected to surpass 500,000 residents by 2040.
• Environmental advocates warned that filling the wetlands could displace 100 million to 150 million gallons of water annually and put Conway, Bucksport, Burgess and Georgetown County at greater flooding risk, while threatening 15 endangered or threatened species potentially present in the project area.
• The South Carolina Environmental Law Project submitted opposition comments on behalf of six organizations and 67 signatories, challenging permits sought from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services.
• By April, Horry County Council members raised concerns about the scope of wetland impacts, with Councilman Dennis DiSabato saying officials needed to “look at every single viable alternative available to us” before filling more than 100 acres with waste.
• On May 19, Horry County Council approved a $1 billion budget that redirected $300,000 from the landfill expansion toward transfer station permitting studies, a mandatory recycling proposal and quarterly progress and water testing reports, a move environmental advocates celebrated as a direct result of public pressure.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.