Charleston County staff urges urgent search for new landfill site as current facility nears capacity

Charleston County environmental management staff told county council members that the county's municipal landfill has roughly 17 years of remaining capacity and urged the county to begin property searches and contracting immediately to avoid losing local disposal control.

"Current state of landfill ... currently have 17 years remaining," presenter Thomas Q. said during the Environmental Management Committee meeting, adding that permitting and siting a new landfill typically takes about seven years and that county leaders therefore have roughly 10 years to secure a replacement.

The presentation outlined three parallel approaches: (1) issue a request for qualifications (RFQ) to hire a firm with engineering, geologic, environmental and public-relations experience to lead siting and permitting; (2) explore intercounty partnerships if necessary; and (3) pursue limited engineering options at the existing landfill, including a vertical expansion. Thomas Q. said a vertical expansion of about 50 feet could increase permitted height to about 220 feet and buy "about 3 or 4 years" of additional life on existing engineered cells. He cautioned, however, that regulators generally prefer vertical over horizontal expansion because it takes no new adjacent property.

Thomas Q. also quantified the cost risk of losing local disposal capacity: county residents now pay a user fee that covers collection and disposal, he said, but trucking waste off-county would add pickup-to-transfer and transfer-to-disposal costs. He cited figures for the sequence of added charges (about $25 per ton to move to a transfer station, then about $35 to $40 per ton to move from a transfer station to an out-of-county landfill), and said the current Berkeley disposal rate is about $57 per ton; combining those components, he said, would roughly add an extra $112 per ton in some scenarios. If Charleston County sends roughly 200,000 tons off-county, "you can multiply that by $112," he told council, to illustrate the potential taxpayer impact.

The presentation also discussed composting operations at the landfill complex. Thomas Q. said the composting operation currently uses roughly 20 acres and could be relocated, and that combining compost relocation with a vertical expansion could extend the landfill's life markedly. He estimated a combined approach could push the site life to 25–30 years, if all pieces align.

Council members pressed staff on options and timelines. Councilman Boykin asked whether relocating composting plus vertical expansion could extend usable life; Thomas Q. replied it could extend it to about 25–30 years. Council members also raised the need for community outreach in districts near the existing site.

Separately, the Environmental Management Committee moved in open session to an executive session to discuss a contractual matter involving the county's collection contract with Republic. In the executive session the committee voted to adopt the attorney's recommendation and to negotiate with Republic about the collection contract; committee members reported that motion carried when the meeting reconvened. Committee members noted the vote occurred in executive session and therefore details of negotiations were not publicly discussed.

Why this matters: Charleston County must secure disposal capacity years before the current landfill reaches full permitted capacity. Staff described both cost and service risks if the county becomes dependent on neighboring counties' disposal capacity, and recommended initiating a professional RFQ and parallel technical work to preserve local options.

Next steps: Staff will proceed with the RFQ and site-evaluation work as described in the presentation and, per the committee vote, the county attorney was authorized in executive session to negotiate with Republic on the collection contract.