Hazardous waste found buried in small SC town. State looking for culprit.
State investigators have found hazardous waste buried on a vacant lot in a small South Carolina town, verifying that barrels unearthed from the site this year contained weed killer and another toxin.
The waste buried in Winnsboro is suspected of sending strong odors through a neighborhood, where people had expressed concern about the potential hazards.
State officials say the odors likely were noticeable, but they do not believe anyone was in danger.
Still, the agency said it is looking for the culprit responsible for burying two containers. Hazardous waste disposal is illegal in South Carolina without state permission.
“Our investigation into the responsible party that buried these materials is ongoing, and we’ll provide more information as our investigation continues,’’ Sara Martinez, staff attorney for the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, said in an email to Columbia lawyer David Massey, who is representing the property owners.
Massey was not immediately available for comment.
DHEC issued a statement Thursday morning, saying there were no impacts from the hazardous waste on groundwater or drinking water in Winnsboro. The chemicals in the barrels included 2-4-D, a herbicide used since the 1940s to kill weeds, the agency said.
People may have noticed the odors from the weed killer, the agency said. Officials said the odor of 2-4-D is easy for people to detect at low concentrations.
Chromium also was detected in liquid found in the barrels. Contact with some chromium forms can cause skin irritation, while ingesting it can cause stomach irritation. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says people who breathe in some forms of chromium can suffer from nose ulcers, runny noses and breathing problems, such as wheezing.
DHEC criminal investigators began looking into possible hazardous waste dumping after receiving a tip in November. In February, a team of agency officials and contractors descended on the vacant lot, where they began digging up parts of the property.
The agency revealed Thursday that two barrels containing liquid were found at the time. An affidavit by a former Winnsboro town employee said supervisors told him to bury barrels from the town’s sanitation department on property next door, The State newspaper reported in February.
The lot is on West Palmer Street between a Winnsboro city maintenance facility and a church. Winnsboro is a town of about 3,100 residents a half hour’s drive north of Columbia in Fairfield County.
This story was originally published April 6, 2023 at 9:40 AM.
