Charleston Co. Landfill fails DHEC inspections for months

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - Problems continue at the Charleston County Landfill as the facility keeps failing monthly South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control inspections.

Located on Bees Ferry Road, the Charleston County Landfill has failed multiple inspections for controlling litter, application of soil cover and compactors being down.

Issues began to arise when the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control was conducting a routine compliance inspection at the landfill on Oct. 24 and noted the landfill was deficient in applying cover, which means to cover the trash with a layer of soil to minimize odor, pests and rodents as well as litter.

The department of health and environmental control continued to visit the Bees Ferry landfill monthly, where inspectors continued to note that the landfill was deficient in controlling litter.

Multiple nearby West Ashley neighborhoods and apartment building residents have complained about the litter, including one woman, Emily Vanauker, who can see the landfill from her front door.

“The birds are wild; they drop all types of litter and trash,” Vanauker says. “Our neighbors, they have a hard time; they are picking up trash every day. They go out in the yard, they have young daughter and a dog and they’re like, we can’t let our dog out because there’s so much litter and gross stuff in our yard.”

During the department’s most recent inspection in January, the inspector requested that the landfill provide date-time stamped photographs showing adequate cover at the end of each working day. The landfill has been submitting these photographs on a daily basis, and the inspector has determined that there is not, in fact, an issue with cover application at the landfill.

Merle Shepard, a longtime West Ashley resident, says he thinks the problem also has to do with the fact that the area has grown, putting more people in closer proximity to the landfill.

“It really hasn’t impacted me very much, only in a kind of a cosmetic way, because on the way to the landfills with these trucks, they don’t properly sometimes cover the back of the truck,” Shepard says. “You get a lot of people who sometimes refer to this area as West Trashley.”

The landfill will be reevaluated on Feb. 10 and department of health and environmental control says the landfill is currently working with a contractor to develop a plan to address the litter issue across the entire facility.

Another member of the West Ashley community, Richard Crawford, asks if the problem stems from a lack of workers or limited land.

“If something goes wrong, you can be affected by the smell and everything. If they have to close the thing down, then it may backup stuff even more,” Crawford says. “I mean, it’s pretty depressing.”

Charleston County made the following statement in response to the Bees Ferry Landfill:

Charleston County Environmental Management is continuing to monitor the litter. Staff is working with a contractor to develop and implement a plan to address the issue.

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