Concerns about smelly industries cause stink in SC Legislature

Hardly anyone wants to live next to a stinking garbage dump or a noisy industrial plant, but a bill approved in the state Senate this week makes it more difficult for neighbors to challenge those kinds of nuisances.

The Senate voted 29-14 Wednesday for a bill that would limit so-called nuisance lawsuits, cases that often focus on noise or odors not regulated under existing state laws. Senators said the bill was pushed by the S.C. Manufacturers’ Alliance, one of the state’s biggest business associations.

Bill supporters — including the 23 Republicans and six Democrats who voted for it — said the legislation will help maintain South Carolina’s pro-business environment. Critics said it helps industries at the expense of the general public.

The bill still needs approval from the Republican-controlled House and GOP Gov. Henry McMaster.

“I have never seen a greater attack on the private property rights of the citizens of this state,’’ state Sen. Vincent Sheheen, D-Kershaw, said during debate.

The proposal would bar residents who move next to existing manufacturing plants from claiming the facilities are nuisances, curtailing their ability to win suits over odors or noise. In some cases, they could sue if the industry expanded, but a compromise reached Wednesday would limit such suits.

State Sen. Paul Campbell, a bill supporter, said he has little sympathy for people who move next to an existing manufacturing plant. “I don’t want to discourage manufacturing in the state,” the Berkeley Republican said.

Sara Hazzard, president of the Manufacturers Alliance, was not available Thursday for comment.

The compromise bill, which hung up the Senate for parts of four days, helps industries by including a section that says manufacturing plants seeking to expand can’t be considered nuisances if a homeowner has “improved” his or her property. Critics said that could prevent people from suing an industry for its noise or odors if they paved a driveway, fixed a roof or made other minor home improvements.

The Senate’s approval makes it harder for people to sue for odors, noise or other problems, said Rebecca Haynes, deputy director of the Conservation Voters of South Carolina. She said the legislation clouds existing state law that allows a person to sue industries that create nuisances in their neighborhoods.

Gary Poliakoff, a Spartanburg lawyer, said the bill is part of a larger push to limit lawsuits by citizens against industry.

“This appears to be ongoing, and the phenomenon appears to be nationwide,” Poliakoff said. “It’s to limit the rights of homeowners and limit the rights of people to complain about ... any problems from industry that affect their property values or their quality of life.”

South Carolina’s existing environmental laws do not address clearly noise and odor, leaving little recourse for homeowners other than to sue industries, said Poliakoff, who worked with environmental groups against the bill.

Several years ago, for example, Poliakoff helped residents living near a regional landfill in Lee County win $625,000 in court to compensate for the odors that were affecting their community. He also made nuisance odor arguments to help residents in the Upstate close a wastewater lagoon.

This story was originally published February 1, 2018 at 2:23 PM with the headline "Concerns about smelly industries cause stink in SC Legislature."