On April 8, 2005, Ordinance 495, a contract between Carolina Adventure World and Fairfield County was signed on the use of 2,581 acres. CAW began operating in 2007.
DHEC would not permit this land use to CAW unless it was an Industrial Operation. DHEC awarded CAW Permit No. SCCR000000. CAW also got Permit No. SCR005567 for Storm Water Discharges Associated with Industrial Activity. From my reading of that permit, it allowed no more than two acres of land to be disturbed.
The drainage system required that all storm water runoff and drainage improvements within the property be designed in accordance with applicable state regulatory guidelines and be maintained by the property owner. Fairfield County was not to be responsible for any construction or maintenance costs associated with the drainage system within the property.
Fairfield County Zoning Office was supposed to inspect the operation once every 12 months, but I don’t believe this was done. Around 2007, many home owners on Lake Wateree say they began to notice a change in their water. They said sediment and sludge had begun to wash into the lake and build up around their boat docks to the point that they could not use them.
If this is, indeed, happening, Fairfield County needs to look into the problem, find out what’s causing it and make sure the properties of these homeowners are returned to the state they were before the sediment and sludge began building up. That’s only fair. These are the highest taxed properties in the County.
