DHEC seeks public comment on mine

COLUMBIA – The last day for public comments to be accepted regarding a permit application to mine granite at a site located in the vicinity of the intersection of S.C. Highway 34 and Simpson Circle in Fairfield County, approximately 3.5 miles west of Ridgeway, has been extended from Friday, May 7, 2021 to Wednesday, June 30, 2021.

LuckStone Corporation has applied to DHEC for the permit. DHEC is currently conducting a technical review of the application and related documents. Where there is a significant amount of public interest DHEC may hold a public meeting.

Send written comments to: Jeremy E. Eddy, DHEC-BLWM, 2600 Bull St., Columbia, S.C. 29201. For more information, call (803) 898-7609 or email [email protected] or go to www.scdhec.gov/environmental-public-notices

Comments

  1. Darrell Barnes says

    Seems to me this property and surrounding area located on 34 and Cook Road would be prime land for future development since it is located on the gateway leading from Mega Site to Winnsoro. This flies in the face of all of the future plans for upscale development on Peach and 34 leading from 77 into town. I believe there could be better locations in county with granite available that should be considered. Ridgeway also has their water supply ( 60,000 GPD) well located right beside this location that could be impacted.

  2. Pelham Lyles says

    As it has been said that there will be little substantial tax revenue for Fairfield County, and that Luck quarry will only create a few jobs except for a handful of heavy equipment grounds crews and contracts with truck drivers who will likely not be county residents, the profits in such an industry will go to an out of state company. Luck Stone’s market study shows the location is good for the growth corridor between Columbia and Charlotte but the mine itself would not be a big economic win for us. While growth is good , we will suffer the largest burden of loss to our county’s other resources with little gain. Columbia, Charlotte and Luck Stone will reap the wins. Not us. It will never be a win win for those in the area of the quarry.

    Within a five-mile radius of this proposed site, there is already a DHEC permit for the development of a Coleman family property just 2.5 miles westward, and less than five miles north is construction already ongoing for a Vulcan quarry off the Old River Rd. and Hope Rd. Why do we want to concentrate so many of the same industry in our area? Yes, we know of the rich granite belt that exists across the fall line which supported the development of the Blue Granite building stone quarries in the early 20th century. There were some terrible industrial accidents taking the lives of county workers and even the owners of the quarries before the days of OSHA. The remains of these operations are wondrous to look at, but the environmental hazards of quarry dust, water contamination from industrial equipment, and yes, even the proliferation of radon off gassing into homes built of the lovely stone, are all part of the environmental equation that has affected the health and safety of our community residents.

    The issue of water level drawdown is already beginning to boil, as it appears the town of Ridgeway’s water tank just by the quarry entrance is not only there for pumping water from Winnsboro’s water line, but is also the site of a very deep well which supplies a large portion of the town of Ridgeway’s water. There is already legal action to block Luck Stone’s plans to dig wells of their own just on the other side of the railroad from Ridgeway’s well. The domestic wells on my sister’s (Josephine) and brother’s (James Morris) and Virginia Pierce’s residences are also close to the cone of depression. This cone occurs in an aquifer when groundwater is pumped from a well in an unconfined aquifer (water table). Luck company has not provided a systematic survey that convinces us that actual depression of the water levels will not put nearby wells in peril. Although the company proposes to replace any affected wells, has anyone ever had to experience losing a well like I have several summers ago when it took weeks and months to get a replacement well dug and outfitted to supply our domestic water??

    I am all for developing the corridor which has been a part of our county’s economic development plan, but hope that our County Council will reconsider moving forward to approve the zoning changes. Like the residents of Chester County whose planning commission recently blocked Luck Industries from locating a quarry in the middle of their economic development corridor (Hwy. #9) because of the incompatibility of such an industry with the types of clean establishments already developing there, I hope that our county will look elsewhere for development potentials that have quality of life issues in mind.

Contact us: (803) 767-5711 | P.O. Box 675, Blythewood, SC 29016 | [email protected]