The public will get a chance to comment on proposed changes to an air-quality permit for Century Aluminum‘s smelter in Berkeley County when state regulators hold a hearing May 28 in Goose Creek.
The hearing — to be held at 6 p.m. at City Hall — was mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency last year, which ordered the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control to give residents near the plant an opportunity to express their concerns about the proposed changes.
The permit regulates the amount of air pollution the company can create as part of its manufacturing process at the Mount Holly site. Century has proposed an increase in the amount of sulfur dioxide generated at the smelter. The permit also would let the smelter increase the amount of particulate matter released into the air by more than 46 percent, to 503 tons a year.
DHEC initially approved Century’s application as a minor revision to an existing permit, which doesn’t require a public comment period.
A pair of environmental groups, the Sierra Club and Environmental Integrity Project, filed an objection with the EPA. They said the changes should have instead been treated as a major revision, which calls for a 45-day public comment period.
The EPA agreed, saying in a Nov. 2 order that “the public was deprived from the opportunity to meaningfully participate” in the permitting decision, as required by the federal Clean Air Act.
Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. at 519 N. Goose Creek Boulevard. While DHEC officials will be on hand to hear comments they won’t be allowed to answer questions. A court reporter will document the comments.
The public can also submit written comments online, via email at AirPNComments@dhec.sc.gov or by mail at Bureau of Air Quality, air permitting division director, 2600 Bull St., SC 29201. Comments must be received no later than June 3.
The air permit isn’t related to an issue the 44-year-old smelter experienced last year when alumina dust escaped a pollution-control system and settled on nearby homes and cars.
Plant officials said Century fixed the problem by descaling its emissions system and replacing collector bags that capture the dust.
The S.C. State Ports Authority said the Port of Charleston handled the equivalent of 216,410 20-foot cargo containers in March.
Cargo report
The Port of Charleston reported a 12 percent year-over-year jump in containerized cargo moving through its terminals in March — the biggest increase of the year and a sign that the nation’s port industry is stabilizing after an uncertain post-pandemic period.
The SPA said its terminals handled the equivalent of 216,410 20-foot cargo boxes in March for the highest single-month tally since October and the second-largest in more than a year. Imported cargo was up 15.4 percent compared with the same month a year ago.
“The U.S. East Coast is in high demand for cargo routings, and our strategic location in the booming Southeast positions us well for long-term growth,” Barbara Melvin, the SPA’s president and CEO, said in a written statement.
The SPA said “the significant container volume boost points to signs of economic strength and a strong market” in the Charleston region and throughout the Southeast.
The number of vehicles moving through the port’s Columbus Street Terminal totaled 18,001 in March — a 15 percent increase due largely to exports of BMW sport-utility vehicles built at the German automaker’s Upstate plant.
The SPA’s top competitors in the Southeast also saw strong growth in containerized cargo in March.
The Georgia Ports Authority said it handled 436,000 20-foot containers during the month for an 18.5. percent year-over-year increase. Imports at the Port of Savannah grew by nearly 24 percent.
The Virginia Ports Authority reported a 17.2 percent uptick in March, driven largely by a 19 percent jump in imports moving through the port in Norfolk.
The National Retail Federation said this month that imports are on the rise for U.S. ports, with a 7.2 percent jump expected once April figures are reported and a forecast 24.3 percent increase for May.
Hearing delay
It will take a few more months to determine whether internet giant Google must disclose how much water it intends to use to cool the servers at a new data center planned for Dorchester County.
Charleston County resident Frank Heindel sued the county last month after Google’s projected water and sewer usage was redacted in a document he requested under the S.C. Freedom of Information Act. The county has said the information qualifies as a protected trade secret under state law — an assertion that Heindel says is false.
A court hearing was held May 2 at which lawyers in the case requested a continuance. A state court judge is now scheduled to hear the case on Oct. 22.
South Carolina law allows industries to shield trade secrets from public view but only if the information includes “commercially valuable plans, appliances, formulas or processes which are used for the making, preparing, compounding, treating or processing of articles or materials which are trade commodities.”
Google’s water-consumption data “does not fall within the definition of trade secrets” allowed by state law, according to Heindel’s lawsuit.
Dorchester County has asked that the case be dismissed.
Google has proposed construction of two data centers in Dorchester County — one near St. George and the other west of Summerville at the Pine Hill Business Campus. They would join an existing Google data center in Berkeley County.
