Senate effort to lure plastics industry means less environmental oversight in SC

South Carolina legislators are trying to reduce environmental oversight of the plastics melting industry in an effort to recruit an emerging business that promises millions of dollars in investment, despite concerns about air and water pollution.

The S.C. Senate approved a bill this week that would shield plastics melters from existing state solid waste regulations, even though feedstock for the melting process is composed of plastic waste.

Plastics melters also could avoid posting bonds for pollution cleanups if they show state regulators that providing cleanup money isn’t warranted. And after three years, state regulators could no longer require a bond, even if it was warranted.

The legislation, approved after more than four hours of debate Wednesday, moves to the House of Representatives for consideration later this spring.

So far, lawmakers have not named a business that wants to locate here, but they say the plastics melting industry could invest more than $100 million in South Carolina if the state rolls out the welcome mat. Some senators have toured a facility in Georgia and were impressed.

Industry supporters argue that the melting process is good for the environment because it gets rid of plastic that is not now being recycled. Melted plastic could then be used in an array of products, ranging from wax to fuel, boosters said.

During floor debate Wednesday in the Senate, lawmakers said the state should support efforts by the plastics industry that would help the economy, particularly in rural areas that badly need jobs.

“Before they spend $130-$180 million, they want to make sure this is a convenient place, a cooperative place, a safe place for them to invest that kind of money,’’ Sen. Billy Garrett, R-McCormick, said.

Wednesday’s action, which follows heavy lobbying by the American Chemistry Council, was a compromise from the original bill, but it still gives deference to an industry that is unproven in South Carolina.

Senators critical of the bill said it’s wrong to water down environmental rules to recruit industries.

“I just really think the people ought to know what we are getting into, especially when we are talking about creating a whole body of law for something we really don’t know about,’’ Sen. Marlon Kimpson, D-Charleston said.

Plastics melting is now governed by the state’s solid waste rules, enacted decades ago to make sure waste is handled properly and surrounding areas are not hurt. But those rules would not apply if the bill is approved by the House and signed by the governor.

Kimpson and Democratic Sens. Dick Harpootlian of Columbia and Thomas McElveen of Sumter were the only lawmakers to vote against the legislation Wednesday.

After the 39-3 vote, Harpootlian said the legislation is being rushed through to accommodate an industrial process that could one day hurt the environment.

“Industry representatives were not very forthcoming and (fellow) legislators said ‘Just trust us,’ ’’ Harpootlian said. “But I’ve read about this technology. It has huge risks and is brand new.’’

Plastic waste is flammable and can release toxins during a fire, critics said. Plastic-fueled fires have occurred before in South Carolina, most notably at a massive trash pile in the Lowcountry that ignited several years ago and burned for months.

The melting process, called pyrolysis, has been known to release harmful chemicals like lead and mercury, according to GAIA, an environmental group with concerns about the industry’s impact on the landscape..

Senators supporting the legislation say the waste that would be burned is not hazardous. And boosters of the legislation, pushed by Sen. Danny Verdin, R-Laurens, said the state needs the high-paying jobs that plastics melters promise.

Senators who support the bill say pyrolysis is not a waste-related business, but a regular manufacturing process akin to what most industries do in South Carolina. And many businesses don’t have to post bonds, they say.

If the state requires a bond for plastics melters, it could discourage industrial development in South Carolina, said Sen. Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence.

“We start down the road we’re trying to go down here today, we ain’t got to worry about companies coming to South Carolina,’’ Leatherman said.

Garrett, who described himself as an environmentalist, said tight requirements, such as a cleanup bond, “will be a deal breaker’’ in luring the plastics melting industry to the state. McCormick is a tiny county on the Georgia border with little industry.

“All of the other states that have adopted the same amendments and the same laws have allowed them to come in and operate,’’ Garrett said, referring to efforts in other states to adopt rules friendly to the plastics-melting industry.

The American Chemistry Council has been involved in getting legislation friendly to the industry approved in nine states, including Georgia and Tennessee. A new facility is planned for Tennessee and one has been built in Georgia.

Verdin and Sen. Mike Gambrell, R-Anderson, visited the Nexus pyrolysis facility in Atlanta two years ago to learn more about how that works. Nexus and Agilyx are among companies nationally that melt plastic for use in recycled products.

Wes Robinson, senior director of state affairs for the chemistry council., said the business is different from waste-related industries, such as landfills.

“This is not a solid waste management facility,’’ Robinson said. “It is a manufacturing facility. The feedstock they are using through the manufacturing process just happens to have been in the waste stream at one point. But in a solid waste process you are charging a tipping fee and using funds to manage waste in perpetuity. That’s not what is happening here.’’

As a result, waste management rules should not be imposed, industry officials argue. Supporters of the legislation say the state has other environmental rules, such as those governing air and water pollution, to properly regulate the industry.

Robinson said he was unaware of any plastics-melting businesses planning to move into South Carolina now, but the state needs the right rules and regulations to bring in the industry.

The bill approved by the Senate is similar to one blocked in the House earlier this year, but that bill included a section that would have opened the state to waste incinerators. The incineration part of the bill doomed the legislation.

Environmentalists said they are glad the Senate bill did not pass in its original form. They support a. requirement in the revised bill that the state Department of Health and Environmental Control issue a report on pyrolysis in two years. But overall, the legislation is nothing to be happy about, critics said.

John Tynan, director of the Conservation Voters of South Carolina, said the state is again giving special treatment to an industry at the potential expense of the environment.

He cited the burning trash pile in Jasper County and a hazardous waste landfill next to Lake Marion. The landfill closed when its owners filed for bankruptcy, leaving the state to pay for cleanup and monitoring. For years, the landfill’s operators had received favorable treatment by the Legislature.

“We in South Carolina have had a long history of dealing with waste related disasters that have left toxic legacies,’’ Tynan said Thursday. “Unfortunately, this bill signals that we haven’t learned from those experiences. This bill is putting us on track to make those same mistakes again.’’