Investigators descend on site of suspected toxic waste dumping in small SC town

South Carolina environmental investigators are excavating a vacant lot in Winnsboro to determine if toxic waste was illegally buried there and, if so, who is responsible for illicit disposal near the community’s downtown.

It was not known Monday what specific type of waste might be on the property, but the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control said it is trying to learn more after receiving a tip.

The agency said the probe is a criminal investigation and several areas of the lot are being assessed. The property is on West Palmer Street adjacent to a town maintenance shed and is near a church, a day care center and a neighborhood. The excavation work began Thursday, DHEC said.

“The investigation is based on information brought to DHEC’s attention that unknown materials were buried on the site,’’ the department said in a statement. “Several areas will be assessed and excavated. If containers are found, DHEC’s contractor will be prepare to remove, sample and secure the containers.’’

Agency spokeswoman Laura Renwick said agency staff “still have a ways to go before they can really say’’ how significant any illegal disposal was.

Hazardous waste dumping is illegal in South Carolina without a permit. Hazardous waste can be chemicals or other manufactured products.

Winnsboro, located in Fairfield County about 30 minutes north of Columbia, has about 3,100 residents.

Homes and businesses near where the digging is occurring are not believed to be at risk from drinking water contamination since they draw water from Winnsboro’s public utility, as opposed to private wells. The public utility that supplies the area gets drinking water from the Broad River and a reservoir miles away, said Winnsboro Mayor John McMeekin.

Regardless, other environmental threats are of concern to some nearby residents, including air pollution potentially seeping from buried material.

Trista Davis, who runs a day care center next to the excavation site, said worries about air pollution prompted her to close the center last Thursday. At the time, Davis said she noticed a strong chemical smell in the air.

“I made a decision to close because the odor was strong,’’ Davis said. “I didn’t want the kids to have an allergic reaction.’’

Davis said she was frustrated because DHEC did not notify her in advance of the digging and was not available Thursday to discuss what was occurring.

She was told by an agency official at the site Friday there was no air pollution threat, but Davis remains skeptical because the excavation work is still underway. She said she had noticed the odor in the past, but it was much stronger as the excavation was occurring.

The day care center remained closed Monday.

People near the dig site “should have been asked to leave, or if they didn’t want to leave, please give them the option,’’ Davis said, adding that she believes DHEC should have said, “ ‘If you have any underlying conditions you may want to leave until we find out if this is something that could be harmful.’ ‘’

DHEC’s law enforcement office, which often handles criminal probes, is heading up the investigation.

An affidavit, obtained by The State, indicates that some of the waste could have come from the city of Winnsboro.

The affidavit, signed by a man who said he worked for the town for 18 years, said Winnsboro supervisors ordered the man in 2018 to bury barrels of waste from the town’s sanitation department on property next door. The barrels were marked hazardous, the affidavit said.

Winnsboro’s sanitation department shed is adjacent to the vacant lot DHEC is investigating.

Columbia lawyer David Massey, who is representing the site’s property owners, said a DHEC investigator told him Monday afternoon that they agency had not found barrels on the part of the property where officials looked. But other “suspicious’’ material was found and is being analyzed to determine what it is, Massey said.

McMeekin said he was unaware of the allegations in the affidavit. But he said the town will cooperate fully with DHEC on the probe.

The vacant property is the site of a former garment manufacturing plant, McMeekin said. The plant was torn down years ago, McMeekin said.

Asked whether the plant could have contaminated the property in the past, McMeekin said, “When you think about a manufacturing facility once having been there, no telling what is on there.’’

Massey said the site’s owners are concerned that they will not be able to sell the property when the time is right. The owners, a local family, received a tip about the hazardous waste and reported it to DHEC, Massey said.

“It’s like a command center,’‘ Massey said of DHEC’s presence at the site.

His clients are “now finding out that there are these toxic substances that have been buried on their property .... which will keep them from being able to sell their property.’‘

This story has been updated