The Georgetown Times: Do Georgetown Residents Want A Biomass Plant To Replace A Paper Mill? Here's What A Survey Shows.

https://www.postandcourier.com/georgetown/news/georgetown-county-biomass-plant-survey-energy-sc/article_9d0391aa-88c0-4e69-b9ed-99e8d7c18b4f.html GEORGETOWN — Tom Swatzel, a former Georgetown County Council member, says the city is at a crossroads. 

It can redevelop the Liberty Steel and International Paper properties with mixed-use development and public access to the Georgetown waterfront — or once again fill the skies with smoke from heavy industry. 

The newly formed organization, Citizens for Georgetown, with Swatzel as its chairman, is advocating for the former.  

"In no way do we want to trade one smokestack for another," Swatzel said.

Citizens for Georgetown is a coalition of residents, business owners and community leaders, according to its website. Swatzel said he started the group when community members began asking for his help in advocating against heavy industry on the waterfront, including a biomass power plant proposed for the IP property. 

Swatzel was previously involved in redeveloping the Murrells Inlet MarshWalk.

This week, Citizens for Georgetown commissioned a community survey to gauge resident opinions on the redevelopment of the Liberty Steel and IP properties. 

It sent a survey to 1,300 Georgetown voters, and 352 people responded, Swatzel said.

The survey asked residents if they would support a biomass plant and if they would like to see mixed-use development with clean industry on the waterfront instead of heavy industry.

Roughly 70 percent of participants said they would oppose a biomass plant and about 20 percent of people said they would support it. A little over 10 percent said they were unsure, and one person skipped the question, according to survey results.

State Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, R-Murrells Inlet, has said he expects a biomass plant deal to be finalized in the next three to six months. He's argued the plant makes more sense than mixed-use development because the property has housed heavy industry for nearly 90 years and has likely been contaminated. 

IP announced in October that it would close its 87-year-old Georgetown paper mill, leaving roughly 700 workers and some 200 contractors without jobs. Goldfinch maintains a biomass plant could help replace those jobs and create opportunities for local loggers and developers.

State and local officials also expect the Liberty Steel mill property to be redeveloped soon.

Liberty cut 50 jobs at the site last year, then idled the mill four months later. The company also sold some of its equipment to a North Carolina company that makes wire-reinforcing products.

After being idled, the mill stopped receiving power from Santee Cooper because its electric furnace and rolling mill were not in use, a company spokesperson previously said.

Santee Cooper is now seeking more than $7 million from the company’s owner after the mill missed payments in November and December, leaving it with past due balances of more than $334,000, court records show. The lapses prompted Santee Cooper to terminate a five-year agreement with the company and to ask the court to enforce a section of its contract that requires Liberty to pay the utility the total of the minimum monthly bills that would have been collected during that period.State and local leaders have been meeting with a developer interested in purchasing the Liberty Steel mill site. The developer intends to create mixed-use development on the property that could include affordable housing, parks, entertainment spaces and waterfront access, according to state Rep. Lee Hewitt, R-Murrells Inlet.

The majority of survey participants said they would prefer similar mixed-use development on the IP site, the results show. 

Swatzel said the outcome of the survey aligns with what he's heard from community members. 

"People overwhelmingly want a new vision for the Georgetown waterfront that has no stacks and, you know, benefits the entire community," he said. 

Swatzel said he would like to see high-paying advanced manufacturing jobs and tech companies move onto the paper mill property.

Although he doesn't have any particular businesses in mind, he said he'd like local leaders to begin recruiting such companies.

It could take many years for the property to be ready for restaurants, retail and other development, but Swatzel said it would be worth the wait.

"The important points about this survey, the results, are that overwhelmingly people don't want the biomass plant," he said. "People don't support elected officials who support a biomass plant, and people want a new vision for Georgetown that does not include heavy industry."