RICHLAND COUNTY, S.C. — In a very long and vocal Richland County Planning Commission meeting Monday night, about a half dozen residents spoke out against Westinghouse Electric wanting to rezone land along Bluff Road from agricultural to heavy industrial use.
In a packed room, Richland County residents voiced strong opinions about needing to keep land near Westinghouse Electric undeveloped and conserved.
The company, which was part of the failed VC Summer nuclear project, continues to run a nuclear fuel manufacturing plant in Hopkins, and they are hoping to expand their footprint in that area.
Christopher Knight, a systems engineering manager with Westinghouse made the case to the Richland County Planning Commission that building in this area would be better than building more within a heavy industrial zone.
"A better solution from an environment, sustainability and economical solution, being able to use common use space rather than building up front which would be more visibly seen and an obstruction on Congaree. And the location chosen actually maintains a larger buffer than building in our current heavy industrial zone," Knight said.
But several members of the public disagreed.
"This property is situated in one of the most pristine areas of the state, which is the Congaree biosphere, one of only 27 biospheres that exist in the entire country," Dr. Tameria Warran, concerned resident said.
"I respectfully ask that the commissioners consider the safety problems that have been documented at Westinghouse, along with my hope that Richland County zoning commissioners and council members consider protecting the Congaree biosphere at the rezoning meeting," Elaine Cooper, another concerned resident said.
Residents explained that the area has cultural significance, that this would cause environmental impact and the company can expand elsewhere.
"Westinghouse has more than sufficient property already zoned as heavy industrial to build an additional plant closer to Bluff Road," said John Grego, president of the Friends of Congaree Swamp.
Even state lawmaker Robert Reese said more of his constituents needed to hear about this meeting.
"This community has not been significantly engaged in this discussion. For a rural community, mailing out flyers with a qr code is not significant engagement," Reese said.
Commissioners ultimately decided to disapprove the rezoning, which means now it goes to Richland County council to decide.