Berkeley County BZA denies proposed plans to expand Huger mine

Huger residents made their concerns known and the Berkeley County Board of Zoning Appeals listened at their regular meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 16, voting 4-2 to deny the Special Exception proposed by DONMAR Sand Mines, LLC to expand their mining site from 5-acres and 20 feet deep to 32-acres and 30 feet deep.

For the various residents who spoke during the meeting, the biggest issues with the proposed expansion were safety, traffic, lack of infrastructure to support the mine and water quality.

Resident Anne-Magille Payne, who resides near the mine off of Charity Church Road, emphasized how dangerous the roads currently are without the additional trucks that the expansion would bring.

“There are school bus stops on either side of the entrance of the mine,” said Payne. “…Highway 41 and Charity is a notoriously awful intersection. I think most of us that live out that way have encountered some serious vehicle wrecks and most of them involve a very large truck versus a car.”

Her other main concern, she continued, was the added depth of the mine.

“A lot of us residents are on septic and well systems,” said Payne. “The people of Constitution and Charity Church Road, when an aquifer is touched in a mine situation, it will dry the wells up. When you have people obtaining their water from a well that could be potentially dry because of the mine hitting an aquifer, then you’re going to have a big issue for the residents there.”

Hanahan resident Carl Johnson, whose family members are longtime residents of Huger, expressed his concern with the additional strain the expansion would add to the already terrible traffic and infrastructure problem existing in the area.

“The traffic flow going into Huger off of Clements Ferry and 41 is excessive just for the local traffic,” said Johnson. “The company that is proposing the mine are going to have an excess of 50 trucks per day… You’re talking about additional trucks for a 10 year period. These dump truck drivers get paid per load, meaning they will rush back to get another load to get paid a higher salary…My major concern is safety—not just safety for current residents, but the generation that comes after us.”

Although, after hearing various pleas, the board ended up deciding in the residents’ favor, the initial motion, made by member Richard Smith and seconded by Bruce Gonzales, was to approve the variance. Both argued that the mine met all county ordinances.

“I have heard a lot of concerns from the community and I certainly understand their concerns,” said Smith. “But, I’ve read the county ordinance and DONMAR Mines meets all of the county’s ordinances as stated… As far as DHEC is concerned, if y’all have a problem with DHEC that’s not something we can police, but DHEC can.”

The county ordinances may have been met, but for the residents and the four board members who voted against the expansion, the decision was about more than regulations. It was about the future well-being of the community. For DONMAR, the ruling will potentially have negative consequences, explained company representative John Mezzarella.

“We’re probably going to go bankrupt, honestly,” stated Mezzarella at last week’s meeting. “That’s why we bought the property…basically to do a dirt pit. There’s a big need for it…If the trucks aren’t coming from our pit they will be coming from O.L. Thompson or (Highway) 402, which will put as many trucks on the road, but coming further away. Our hardship would be basically that of business.”

Daniel Island resident Lisa Kerns, whose husband sits on the BZA, emphasized how grateful she was that so many residents came out to make their voices heard. When the variance was initially proposed, Kerns was adamant about getting the word out to her fellow community members.

“I would like to thank those community residents that took time out of their busy schedules and showed up to voice how their quality of life is affected by the current mine, and how the expansion would affect the future of their community,” said Kerns. “I would also like to thank the board members that listened to the residents of the community and voted to deny the variance requested. The community greatly appreciates the board valuing quality of life over financial gain.”