I am a homeowner from the Fairfield County community that is affected by the recent announcement of plans to operate the rock crushing quarry company, Winnsboro Crushed Stone. Although the decision to permit the operation is now up to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, Fairfield County Council has shown concern for their community’s concerns and voted to employ legal advice to assure the residents that our concerns will be addressed.
In the event that DHEC is considering issuing the mining permit to WCS, we have asked that the agency examine the company’s plan of action in regards to the following:
— Residents believe there is a strong possibility that the water requirements for the mining operation will exceed the available supply and that the company will attempt to make up the difference with ground water wells. The residents feel that this possible situation may impact the residential wells in the area. The company has also announced it will also be using water from the Winnsboro water plant. It is a known fact that Fairfield is dealing with a severe water shortage and the mining company has not yet addressed municipal officials with the municipal water plant to supplement their water needs.
–The residents further believe that the company will not react favorably to alleviate the possibility that some of the domestic water supplies could be adversely affected by the ground water withdrawals. If a draw-down should occur affecting the wells in the area, since there is no city water in any of the adjacent neighborhoods, large numbers of residents could suffer well failures.
–The residents believe that Winnsboro Crushed Stone should investigate the local aquifers with a number of bore-hole tests and use this data to construct a three-dimensional map of the local aquifers.
— Residents believe that the use of explosives could impact some of the homes in the area and that the company should conduct a pre-blast survey to provide some prior operational information for the protection of the residents and the company alike.
— The residents are asking that the permit conditions require the company to sufficiently bond themselves to the community to replace any adversely impacted wells. This replacement could be in the form of new wells and if there are a significant number of incidents, that the company should pay for all lines and appurtenances for connection of these properties to the Winnsboro Town water system.
— Our group has asked DHEC to require the company to use the overburden stockpiled material in the most effective method of providing a sound barrier on the west and north sides of the mine.
–The community requests that the mining company should only be able to operate between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays and not at all on Sundays.
–The community wants to specifically request that when the company is ready to expand into the areas noted as future mining areas, that they be required to go through the process of a substantial modification as referenced by DHEC regulations.
Pelham Lyles
Winnsboro
