Permit sought for big plant:Is this a sign of Volvo?

Amid reports Volvo might be looking at South Carolina to build a new plant, Berkeley County has applied for a permit to fill wetlands and clear land for a manufacturing operation expected to employ 4,000 workers within a decade.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Health and Environmental Control issued a public notice Thursday that a permit is being sought for work on a site off Interstate 26 about 35 miles northwest of downtown Charleston.

The application says the project would include a manufacturing plant, administrative offices and a visitor center. The manufacturer is identified as “Project Soter” on the application. Soter is the spirit of safety in Greek mythology. Volvo cars long have been marketed for safety.

Several lawmakers have said in recent weeks that Volvo is considering the state and money was put in a bond bill this year for a Charleston-area training center.

Officials representing the state Department of Commerce met with conservationists this week to discuss ways to avoid protracted legal battles, a source familiar with the meeting told The State newspaper.

The Associated Press left messages with Berkeley County officials and a Volvo spokesman. Generally government officials and companies do not discuss pending industrial developments.

The application said the county was acting as the applicant “to develop a site for an interested entity to locate, build, and operate an advanced manufacturing and assembly facility.”

About 195 acres would be filled for the project, according to the application. As mitigation, the applicant would restore and enhance more than 1,500 acres in the nearby Four Hole Swamp watershed that the National Audubon Society has defined as a critical area in need of protection.

The filling of 195 acres is larger than most projects proposed in South Carolina during the past decade. But in recent years, agreements to avoid lengthy suits over wetlands filling have been worked out on some projects, such as the expansion of Boeing’s aircraft plant in North Charleston. Wetlands issues on other projects, such as construction of Interstate 73 through eastern South Carolina, remain unresolved.

The permit application said that the applicant requires a site with direct access to an interstate highway and within 50 miles of a port and an airport.

This story was originally published April 17, 2015 at 10:34 AM with the headline "Permit sought for big plant:Is this a sign of Volvo?."