SC paper mill that drew nearly 50,000 odor complaints faces tighter controls, DHEC says

South Carolina’s environmental protection agency says it will require a paper mill that generated a rash of odor complaints near Charlotte to take additional steps to curb future problems in York County.

In a late afternoon news release Wednesday, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control said it has struck an agreement with the New-Indy paper mill to correct “undesirable” odors that have plagued communities surrounding the plant. The order replaces action DHEC took in May 2021 that required New-Indy to control odors, the department said.

““We have worked with New Indy to have them take the necessary steps to provide long-term relief to the surrounding communities, and we are pleased to have reached this agreement with them that will help achieve that goal,” DHEC director Edward Simmer said in the news release.

DHEC’s news release — issued at 4:30 p.m. the day before Thanksgiving — did not allow time to query the agency further about the action. The State contacted a spokesman for New-Indy, but received no immediate comment on DHEC’s announcement.

But the DHEC consent order indicates that the department will, among other things, require New-Indy to install and operate a new pollution control device that strips out the most foul-smelling waste created at the paper mill. That equipment, known as a steam stripper, would supplement an existing steam stripper at the plant and will be large enough to handle all of the waste, known as foul condensate. The new stripper must be in place and operating by July 1, 2025, the order said.

After buying the plant in late 2018, New-Indy ran into trouble when it stopped using the paper mill’s steam stripper to treat the nasty waste. The refuse then flowed into a clogged wastewater basin, which is believed to have contributed to production of odors that generated nearly 50,000 complaints beginning in early 2021.

New-Indy has since restored use of the existing steam stripper, but that equipment has not been adequate to handle all of the foul condensate at the mill.

While DHEC, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and New-Indy say the odor problem is abating thanks to improvements at the facility, people in the Rock Hill-Charlotte area continue to complain. Some people say a sweet chemical smell has replaced the rotten egg odors that overpowered communities in both Carolinas.

In addition to the steam stripper requirements, the DHEC order, signed Wednesday, includes requirements that New-Indy:

▪ Continue operating three air pollution monitors at the plant boundaries

▪ Add two additional monitors on the plant property

▪ Provide a plan for sampling at two downwind locations

▪ Sample the air at one offsite community if the downwind location sampling exceeds certain pollution levels

▪ Maintain a system for taking and responding to odor complaints within five miles of the paper mill

▪ Test for hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan, dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl disulfide

New-Indy’s troubles prompted the Environmental Protection Agency to fine the company $1.1 million, a penalty that a federal court approved earlier this month. DHEC also has fined the company nearly $130,000 over wastewater issues. Simmer has previously said DHEC was misled by New-Indy. The agency signed off on shutting down the steam stripper before the odor problems arose.

Meanwhile, high-powered law firms from South Carolina and Delaware have sued New-Indy on behalf of citizens who say the powerful odors, described as stronger than those of most paper mills, caused nausea, headaches and other health ailments.

New-Indy is a national company owned partly by New England Patriot’s owner Robert Kraft. The paper mill was operated for decades by Bowater in the Catawba community of York County.