By Paul Gable
The S.C. House ended the month of January by passing third reading on the Business Freedom to Choose Act (H3290), which would make Horry County’s solid waste flow control ordinance illegal.
The fate of the county’s monopoly on solid waste disposal for all solid waste generated in the county now rests with the S.C. Senate.
According to information we are hearing, Sen. Luke Rankin and Sen. Greg Hembree will fight passage of the bill in the Senate, which would act to the detriment of the citizens they represent.
Since Horry County Council passed ordinance 02-09, several private haulers operating in the county have gone out of business and all have cut employees. At the same time, local businesses have had to pay $27.50 per ton to dispose of construction and demolition waste at the Horry County Solid Waste Authority (SWA) landfill on Hwy 90 rather than the $15-$20 per ton they were paying at out of county private landfills.
Operating as a tax free, government subsidized agency, the SWA still charges more than private landfills. This is why it has been able to accumulate $35 million in reserves in the bank.
County council hasn’t blinked an eye at socializing waste disposal, resulting in loss of jobs for county citizens. In fact, the council legislated that these private haulers must install GPS systems in their trucks, at their own expense, so “Big Brother” SWA could constantly track the trucks that were hauling garbage in the county and make sure they were dumping at the county landfill.
In the last two year legislative session, the SWA spent $865,000 with a lobbying firm and over $450,000 with a public relations firm to thwart passage of legislation banning flow control. Word is out that the SWA board recently approved an initial $100,000 for lobbying in this legislative session.
Wouldn’t it be better to eliminate this wasteful spending on lobbyists and PR people and allow the citizens to benefit from lower disposal rates?
Obviously not in the thinking of the SWA board and upper management, Horry County Council members and some of the county legislative delegation.
Speak Up…