Coastal Observer: Citizens Groups Give Voice to Concerns About Future of Paper Mill Site

https://limewire.com/d/oegue#9HoWE5vKz2 The citizens of Georgetown are concerned about the future of the International Paper Co. mill site—really concerned. So much so that there are now three different groups with similar names that have formed around the issue.

Citizens for Georgetown was started earlier this year to oppose plans to expand the paper mill’s power plant and generate electricity by burning biomass. The group was founded by Tom Swatzel, a political consultant and former County Council member, who is currently its only publicly identified member.

Citizens for Georgetown (Common Sense Edition) was created this month by Shawn James, a former power plant worker with 30 years of experience at the site. He launched a Facebook page to support redevelopment of the plant and to challenge narratives opposing biomass.

“We are very concerned,” said Bill Crowther, a representative of a third group, Georgetown Concerned Citizens. “We don’t want this coming to the IP site.” Crowther is the former director of the county’s Alliance for Economic Development. His group registered with the S.C. Secretary of State’s Office in March and recently received nonprofit tax status. He co-founded the group with J.C. Sutton, a Pawleys Island resident who owns an oil and gas business. A third member is an environmental lawyer based in Washington, D.C.

“We want to steer IP in the right direction,” Crowther explained. He emphasized that the group does not oppose biomass altogether—just its proposed location on the Georgetown waterfront.

International Paper has solicited letters of intent from potential buyers for the property, and the deadline for submissions was extended last month. Among the participants is a developer who also has a contract to purchase the Liberty Steel mill site and opposes heavy smokestack industry at the IP site. The biomass plant is being proposed by a competing bidder who also plans to build a data center, sawmill, and two wood products operations.

Santee Cooper and Santee Electric Cooperative have also announced involvement in a bid, although they have not disclosed whether they are partnered with private entities.

According to James, who says he has inside contacts at IP, there are seven bidders in total. A decision is expected in the coming weeks.

James launched his Common Sense Edition group in response to a poll conducted by the original Citizens for Georgetown, which claimed residents do not support smokestack industry at the IP site. He and other former IP employees received the poll, but he dismissed it as a push poll designed to sway public opinion against biomass.

“A biomass plant is there. It’s been there for 90 years,” James said. He conducted his own poll offering three choices: keep the site industrial and reopen the power plant, turn it into a “tourist hub,” or undecided. His poll reportedly showed 96 percent support for biomass.

“I didn’t skew it,” James insisted.

After the original Citizens for Georgetown group launched an online petition opposing the biomass plan, the Common Sense Edition released a competing petition in support of it.

James pointed out that his petition garnered 1,250 signatures, nearly double the 650 signatures from the opposition petition. He also highlighted that his Facebook page has over 1,500 followers—three times as many as the original Citizens for Georgetown.

“The citizens of Georgetown are speaking,” James said.

Those citizens also spoke at a recent meeting organized by opponents of the biomass plant.

It was the third such meeting and drew around 70 attendees, including former IP workers and residents of the city’s West End, which borders the mill site. Environmental groups including the S.C. Environmental Law Project, the Coastal Conservation League, and the Sierra Club have pledged to support the plant’s opponents.

Lafaye Moultrie, who grew up in the shadow of the mill, shared her concerns. She recounted her father’s death from cancer at age 54 while working at the plant. “We didn’t know any better back in the day,” she said. Moultrie is opposed to restarting the power plant.

Others voiced support for biomass. Dave Parsons, a 40-year employee of the plant, noted that burning wood waste left from timber harvesting is a clean and renewable energy source.

“Have you ever seen black smoke coming out of the paper mill?” he asked. He said the odors that many complained about were a result of the paper-making process, which is no longer part of the plan.

Still, many at the meeting expressed frustration over the lack of detailed information about what the bidders intend to do with the site. “We need facts, not emotions,” said a West End resident known as Brother Willie.

Another speaker noted that both city and county councils have been asked to hold a public meeting about the future of the IP site, but none have been scheduled.

Paul Burkitt, a Georgetown resident who has attended all three biomass meetings, summed it up: “Talking is only going to get you so far. We need to figure out how to take action.”