Tag: flow control

Court Upholds Horry County Flow Control

Horry County may continue government monopoly flow control of its garbage waste stream, according to a ruling in federal district court last week.

The ruling dismissed the 2009 lawsuit by Sandlands LLC and Express Disposal Service challenging the legality of a county ordinance requiring all solid waste generated within Horry County be disposed of at the Horry County Solid Waste Authority landfill off Hwy 90.

With the dismissal, Horry County and the SWA will continue to exercise monopoly control over the county’s waste stream at the expense of a competitive market and private industry.

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Flow Control Ruled Unconstitutional

A recent decision in a Texas federal court room may have large ramifications for a government established monopoly flow control law in Horry County. A federal judge in Texas ruled earlier this week that a similar Dallas flow control ordinance violates the U.S. Constitution.

The court finds that, despite the city’s proffered justifications, the evidence demonstrates that it implemented the flow control ordinance to raise revenue to advance its economic and proprietary interests…,” the judge wrote in his opinion. “This is an unreasonable exercise of its police powers.”

The virtually identical flow control ordinance in Horry County is currently being challenged in Florence federal district court.

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Rankin Stops Flow Control Ban

Horry County Sen. Luke Rankin (R-Dist 33) performed well for his friends and contributors in the last month of the recent legislative session by holding off Senate passage of a bill that would have eliminated a government monopoly on garbage disposal in Horry County.

Called the “Business Freedom to Choose Act”, Rankin worked hard on the Senate floor to keep the bill from receiving passage in the final month of the legislative session. As a result of his work, the Horry County Solid Waste Authority will continue to monopolize garbage disposal at the expense of businesses and municipalities.

The irony in Rankin’s actions was open for all to see when he spoke against efforts by poor, rural communities to amend a telecommunications bill. The amendment would have provided some type of incentive to extend broadband communications coverage into currently unserved areas, probably through small cooperatives.

Rankin said, “We want to instill competition in the state and do not want to provide advantage for a tax subsidized provider. If you’re going to compete, you cannot do it at a subsidized rate.”

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Garbage Wars and Slimy Politics

The political war over garbage escalated this past week as the state senate may be close to passing a bill that would eliminate county government’s ability to be monopolist garbage czars.

Specifically at risk is Horry County’s flow control ordinance that requires all garbage generated in the county to be disposed of at the Horry County Solid Waste Authority landfill on Hwy 90. The new bill would make flow control illegal throughout the state.

News of the bill surfaced in newspapers serving Columbia and Horry County over the past couple of days raising the specter of massive amounts of toxic waste from New York City flowing into Horry County if the bill passes.

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Flow Control Costing Citizens Money

Demanding that all solid waste generated in Horry County be disposed at the Horry County Solid Waste Authority landfill on Hwy 90 forces the citizens of Horry County to pay higher fees for the disposal of construction and demolition waste than would otherwise be the case.

This revelation came during an SWA presentation of its FY 2013 proposed budget made to Horry County Council during council’s budget retreat last week.

Despite its claims to being an independent, non-profit, public benefit corporation, as it is registered with the S.C. Secretary of State’s office, the SWA budget is included in the county budget each year.

The SWA recently announced a new construction and demolition waste recycling program. The program will apply to loads of C&D waste that includes recyclable items such as metal, plastic, cardboard, clean wood and carpets.

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Trash, Dollars and Horry County Government

As the Horry County budget process gains momentum later this month through the end of June, one entity we will be watching with interest is the Horry County Solid Waste Authority.

In our opinion, this quasi-independent government created authority works counter to the interests of private business and the public in Horry County, provides no real value to Horry County government, but works hard on propaganda and its self-image while amassing millions of dollars in excess funds that could be put to better use.

The SWA controls the waste stream (garbage and debris) within the county through a flow control ordinance passed by county council several years ago. The ordinance dictates that all garbage generated within the county must be disposed of at the SWA Hwy 90 landfill at rates dictated by the SWA.

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The Garbage War in Horry

A Senate bill to eliminate flow control of the garbage stream throughout the state moved one step closer to approval last week when it passed out of the Senate Medical Committee by a vote of 10-3.

A similar bill having already passed the SC House, the only thing standing between a garbage war in the courts between Horry County and the State of South Carolina is passage of the bill by the full Senate and Governor Nikki Haley’s signature.

Horry County currently is the only county in the state to mandate flow control of its waste stream by county ordinance 02-09. The ordinance requires that all waste generated in the county must be disposed at the Horry County Solid Waste Authority landfill on Hwy 90, giving the SWA monopoly control over the county’s waste.

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Shedding Light on the Horry County Solid Waste Authority

A bill to ban flow control of solid waste throughout the state passed the S.C. House of Representatives Wednesday. A similar bill is already underway in the Senate.

If the Senate bill also passes, a conference committee will work out a compromise version of the two bills to go before both houses. If that is successful and the governor signs off on the legislation, an interesting showdown will undoubtedly occur.

Horry County is the only local government in the state that currently monopolizes control of solid waste disposal through flow control legislation. The ordinance governing this will be declared illegal under the wording of the state legislation.

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The Horry County SWA and Mis-information

A meeting today between Horry County council members and members of the Horry County Legislative Delegation evolved through many points of discussion, reached no consensus on the issue of flow control of the county’s waste stream, but did address charges of mis-information about proposed state legislation.

The flow control issue is currently being debated at the state level as Senate Bill 514 makes its way through the legislative process. Horry County currently is the only county in the state to mandate flow control of its waste stream by county ordinance 02-09. The ordinance requires that all waste generated in the county must be disposed at the Horry County Solid Waste Authority landfill on Hwy 90, giving the SWA monopoly control over the county’s waste.

The state legislation, if enacted, states that an ordinance “is void to the extent that a county ordinance restricts solid waste disposal at a permitted site outside a county’s boundaries or impedes a recycling program.”

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Flow Control Divides Horry County Pols

Internecine warfare among politicians over the issue of waste stream flow control is the current dominant issue of political discussion in Horry County.

The most recent round of the verbal battle over flow control began at last Tuesday night’s county council meeting when council voted 11-0 to support a resolution that urged state lawmakers to drop legislation that would allow free market capitalism in the waste industry and, instead, allow flow control, which is really monopoly government control, of the garbage generated in the county and the state.

A new round of flow control discussions took place at yesterday’s Committee of the Whole meeting of Horry County Council and will again be a subject of discussion when council holds a joint meeting with the Horry County delegation of state legislators Friday.

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