It’s one sacrifice too many

(Originally published in The People-Sentinel, Barnwell, S.C. Wednesday, March 28, 2001)

When it comes to being the nuclear corner of South Carolina, we think Barnwell County has more than done its fair share for king and country.
Barnwell and Aiken made the first big sacrifice in the '50s. Almost half of Barnwell County was taken by the federal government – whole towns vanished to make way for the Savannah River Plant.
Dunbar is no more. A slice of Barnwell County’s history was sacrificed. We gave our history willingly, because we were told the sacrifice was necessary to make the world safe for democracy.
Because SRP was already here, Barnwell County was asked in the ‘70s to make another sacrifice by becoming the site of a low-level nuclear waste landfill. That landfill became the main recipient of the nation’s low-level waste.
Last year, state officials were told during the examination of the low-level nuclear waste industry in South Carolina that no amount of money could have convinced us to take the landfill if SRS wasn’t already here.
We’ve gotten millions of dollars for having the landfill here, but no government can put a price on or measure the risk we have taken.
We’ve made huge sacrifices, only to be sneered at by people who say our sacrifice was bought by company largesse and tax money.
In Barnwell County, we know nuclear industry. We are convinced, with the knowledge we have on hand, that it is safe. But the nuclear industry is still in its infancy, just 60 or so years old. We could find out tomorrow we were wrong to take the risks we willingly took.
Federal officials took our history. We live in a tenuous present. Now S.C. Gov. Jim Hodges is asking the people of Barnwell County to again sacrifice, this time to give up our children’s future. Hodges wants to squander money the state has set aside to monitor the landfill and perhaps clean up the landfill if something goes wrong in the future.
He wants to take $35 million from a $103 million account, not knowing if what remains will be enough to not only protect the state in general but also protect Barnwell County and its residents specifically.
Hodges thinks we should go along with his plan because “he has a good track record on the Barnwell issue.” We think he has a deplorable record on the Barnwell issue. To him, “Barnwell” is two things – a dump and an account on the state’s ledger to be raided in a pinch. He doesn’t care about the wonderful people who live here and work here and want to stay here and build a future here. He doesn’t care about us, our children, or our children’s children.
This is a sacrifice we shouldn’t be asked to make.