Tag: Horry County Solid Waste Authority

Shedding Light on the Horry County Solid Waste Authority

A bill to ban flow control of solid waste throughout the state passed the S.C. House of Representatives Wednesday. A similar bill is already underway in the Senate.

If the Senate bill also passes, a conference committee will work out a compromise version of the two bills to go before both houses. If that is successful and the governor signs off on the legislation, an interesting showdown will undoubtedly occur.

Horry County is the only local government in the state that currently monopolizes control of solid waste disposal through flow control legislation. The ordinance governing this will be declared illegal under the wording of the state legislation.

The Horry County SWA and Mis-information

A meeting today between Horry County council members and members of the Horry County Legislative Delegation evolved through many points of discussion, reached no consensus on the issue of flow control of the county’s waste stream, but did address charges of mis-information about proposed state legislation.

The flow control issue is currently being debated at the state level as Senate Bill 514 makes its way through the legislative process. Horry County currently is the only county in the state to mandate flow control of its waste stream by county ordinance 02-09. The ordinance requires that all waste generated in the county must be disposed at the Horry County Solid Waste Authority landfill on Hwy 90, giving the SWA monopoly control over the county’s waste.

The state legislation, if enacted, states that an ordinance “is void to the extent that a county ordinance restricts solid waste disposal at a permitted site outside a county’s boundaries or impedes a recycling program.”