WMBF News: ‘It’s Tearing This Town Apart’: Georgetown County Residents Torn Over Potential Paper Mill Replacement

https://www.wmbfnews.com/2025/06/20/its-tearing-this-town-apart-georgetown-county-residents-torn-over-potential-paper-mill-replacement/ GEORGETOWN COUNTY, S.C. (WMBF) - After a decades-old paper mill in Georgetown County, owned by International Paper, shut its doors in the fall, residents are waiting anxiously to see what will replace it.

Though they can’t control what company International Paper ultimately sells their property to, residents do have thoughts about the impacts the choice could have.

“Georgetown County is at a crossroads,” said business owner and former county council member Everett Carolina.

Carolina told WMBF News he wants IP to consider the impacts the decision could have on residents, especially health-wise.

“Residents and former employees of IP have suffered from cancer, respiratory ailments, loss of hearing from the high decibels of the machinery that makes the noise of the mill there,” said Carolina.

Carolina said several ideas have been thrown around about what could replace the mill, including another biomass plant, which would produce energy by burning organic matter.

One group, Citizens for Georgetown, started a petition opposing a biomass plant for environmental reasons.

“That support is continuing to grow as people learn more and more about what a biomass plant might mean for the city, being another smoke stack, more pollution, and existing pollution from these heavy industry sites not cleaned up,” said Tom Swatzel, Citizens for Georgetown’s chairman.

But, former IP worker, Shawn James, told WMBF News he saw that petition, and decided to start his own, claiming Georgetown County relies on manufacturing jobs.

“I wanted to bring back some manufacturing jobs to help support the people in this town that are hurting right now, and that includes loggers, that includes the forestry people, that includes the manufacturing workers,” said James.

But residents know it’s ultimately not their decision, and now, it’s just a waiting game.

“It’s tearing this town apart, but at the end of the day, we’re holding meetings, and we’re all getting mad about things. We’re holding meetings and nobody knows what’s going to happen here,” said James. “Nobody knows what’s going to happen here except for International Paper and these bidders.”

WMBF News reached out to Georgetown County Council’s chairman, who said the council will not endorse any bidder, but will be willing to work with whoever IP ends up choosing.