ST. MATTHEWS -- Environmental concerns at the local landfill were addressed Monday, as Calhoun County Council approved separate studies of methane gas problems as well as the general five-year assessment.
County Administrator Lee Prickett explained the methane gas issue arose after state-required monitoring of the old city-operated portion of the county landfill showed a high reading at one of its wells. Despite remediation efforts with drilled vents, the reading was still high where the old town dump was located.
Franklin Huffman, whose property is adjacent to the landfill, agreed to allow further test boring on his property to see if the methane gas is there. If it is, the county has an option from Huffman to obtain undetermined additional acreage of his land at a rate of $5,500 an acre.
The consulting firm of Davis and Floyd of Greenwood, which contracts through the Lower Savannah Council of Governments, will do the testing for an estimated $2,500.
Also, at the separate C&D (construction and demolition) portion of the landfill now in use, the Columbia-based firm of American Engineering Consultants will perform the five-year environmental assessment for an estimated $2,500.
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control has requested such information as the location and depth survey of the landfill cells, as well as a re-evaluation of the necessity of a settlement pond.
Prickett also informed council that the consulting firm could also, for about $19,000, perform a feasibility study of expanding the landfill. The county could apply for a permit to go deeper or go vertical or add more land to the site.
In a report on the recently implemented policy of charging at the landfill, Prickett said the new system of scales is working out well. Council may later revisit how much tonnage can be brought in by citizens without being charged, he said. And, one key result is that the number of out-of-county people who have been using the landfill has been substantially reduced.
With bills set to go out the end of the month, the administrator said he has heard complaints from citizens in the towns who question why they should pay to take debris to the landfill, when they can put it out on the street and pay nothing.
"That's a legitimate issue, and we may revisit that," he said.
In other business, council:
-- Agreed to renew the annual $500,000 contract with The Regional Medical Center for ambulance transport service.
-- With construction started on the county's new agricultural building, authorized the hiring of interior decorator Linda Perrow for $1,500. Also, council authorized the administrator to look into reroofing proposals for the sheriff's office and the courthouse annex, which will be reconfigured after the agricultural staff moves out.
-- Received as information, a recommendation from Prickett that one full-time building inspector be hired to enforce the county's new building codes.
-- In closed, executive session, discussed a legal matter concerning the school district.
T&D Government Writer Tucker Lyon can be reached by e-mail at tlyon@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5545.