SC gold mine draws scrutiny — again. Toxic waste violations found at lab, state says
A laboratory at a sprawling open-pit gold mine has run into trouble over what inspectors say is a failure to follow hazardous waste rules at the site between Columbia and Charlotte.
The Kershaw Mineral Lab has been fined $16,000 for 19 environmental violations, including allowing more hazardous material than is permitted on parts of the property and a failure to conduct proper inspections, state records show.
The violations mark the second time in 2020 the state has issued fines involving the Haile Gold Mine for breaking environmental rules, and South Carolina regulators now are looking at more enforcement action after raising air pollution concerns.
When the mine’s owner sought state approval to begin work, officials insisted they would be good stewards of the environment. The digging operation, which opened about three years ago in Lancaster County, has the latest pollution control systems, mine operators say.
But in September, state officials said they had fined the mine, which is owned by OceanaGold, $11,200 over water pollution discharges from the site. Regulators said the mine exceeded the legal limit for releases of thallium, a toxic chemical used in rat poison.
In the most recent case, the $16,000 fine against the Kershaw Mineral Lab follows an inspection this past March that found problems with hazardous waste handling. The lab is owned by the mine but is operated by another company, SGS, mine officials say.
The penalty against the lab is the second largest hazardous waste fine issued this year by state regulators in South Carolina.
Now, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control is dealing with another issue involving the mine. It says an “air quality enforcement order is currently being finalized’’ against the gold mine.
The department did not elaborate but, in April 2019, DHEC issued a notice alleging OceanaGold had failed to keep mercury within legal air pollution limits during equipment tests. Enforcement orders can result in fines or requirements to make improvements, or both.
Haile Gold Mine spokeswoman Heather Matthews said the mine had received a copy of a DHEC enforcement order, but declined to provide details because the agency has not released it.
“Regarding our air quality controls, appropriate modifications have been made,’’ she said in an email.
DHEC says there is no indication the recent hazardous waste violations resulted in pollution to the environment, but an attorney who has clashed with Haile said the state’s findings raise more questions about mining’s impact on South Carolina.
“These are all the kinds of telltale signs of a sloppy system that threatens the long-term, more serious kinds of environmental pollution that we all don’t want,’’ said Columbia lawyer Bob Guild, who represented the Sierra Club in a successful effort that prompted the mine to set aside more money for an expected cleanup after it closes.
The mining operation handles toxic chemicals and excavates material that can release acid into groundwater and creeks. The gold mine’s plan to excavate parts of the more than 4,500-acre site in Lancaster County involved impacting more than 1,000 acres of wetlands and streams, an unusually large amount for a development project.
The laboratory where the most recent problems occurred analyzes ore samples that are dug from the earth in the search for precious metals. The facility operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
OceanaGold’s website calls the laboratory a “valuable asset” to the mine. By having the lab across the street from the mine, geologists are able to quickly analyze samples mined at the Haile site, OceanaGold says. The lab employs about two dozen chemists, scientists and metallurgy employees, OceanaGold says.
Matthews said the mine takes “strident measures’’ to comply with environmental rules. But Matthews referred questions about the hazardous waste violations at the lab to SGS, the company that runs the lab. Efforts to reach a spokesman for SGS were unsuccessful this week.
Guild said the violations at the laboratory don’t inspire confidence in him. The mine is supposed to close after it has extracted most of the gold it can affordably reach within the next 15 years. It must then restore the site and monitor the property.
“We all know that these gold mines, after they stop operating, are going to have to manage the long-term environmental impacts,’’ Guild said.
The most recent violations were contained in an enforcement summary in this month’s Department of Health and Environmental Control board meeting packet. The board met Thursday but did not discuss the latest enforcement action by agency staff.
According to DHEC enforcement records, the Kershaw Mineral Lab ran into trouble when the agency conducted an inspection March 12. After checking the site for compliance with hazardous waste laws, DHEC officials identified the violations. Those violations included:
Accumulating hazardous waste and storing it in the wrong places.
Failing to manage lamps to prevent the release of waste.
Failing to show how long waste had been accumulating at the lab.
Not inspecting waste accumulation areas enough, in this case “at least weekly.’’
Failing to properly train employees.
Failing to keep proper records.
Failing to coordinate with local police and fire agencies.
The Haile Gold Mine is a historic operation that reopened in 2017 after OceanaGold acquired Romarco Minerals, the company that initially planned to restart the mine.
Touted as the largest gold mine in the eastern United States, it is on a more than 4,500-acre site and includes multiple excavation pits, some of which are expected to exceed 1,000 feet deep. The mine is planning to expand by about 900 acres but needs government approval.
OceanaGold’s operation is on par with some gold mines in the western United States, where large-scale minerals mining is more common, The State reported in a 2014 series on the environmental impacts of gold mining. The mine has been praised by people who live nearby for creating jobs, but others say the scars on the landscape aren’t worth it.
OceanaGold officials say they have created hundreds of jobs in Lancaster County. The mine is located near the town of Kershaw, which until the operation began, had been in search of industry to replace textile plants that had closed.
The Haile Gold Mine had been shuttered for years until Romarco Minerals discovered deposits of the precious metal that could be excavated affordably. Billions of dollars in gold lie below the surface, estimates have shown.
This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 1:34 PM.
