Landfill

Like Gov. Sanford, I’ve always believed that a big part of maximizing South Carolina’s competitiveness involves preserving the unique look and feel of our state.

After all, the health of our natural resources is directly linked to our financial health, and jeopardizing one means jeopardizing the other.

One thing is clear, though. You don’t accomplish either objective by becoming the nation’s dumping ground for refuse – which is precisely where our state is headed if we continue down our current path.

I made these and many other points in an interview with the Free Times newspaper in Columbia last week.

You can read that story by clicking here, but I believe the numbers bear repeating.

Almost 30% of the waste disposed of in South Carolina last year came from other states, an amount that has increased steadily over the past few years.

In 2001, our state imported 579,000 tons of garbage. Six years later, in 2007, that figure had more than tripled to 1.7 million tons, according to DHEC and the Congressional Research Service. (more…)