Courtney Crafton and her family have strong ties to Horse Creek Valley – a string of small communities in Aiken County with a rich history of industrialization tracing back to the mid-1800s, when the promise of jobs at cotton mills and finishing plants brought settlers to the area. She joined her husband and his family, who have been long-time residents, six years ago and is now raising her children in Burnettown.

Unfortunately, Horse Creek Valley has also been a hotbed for legacy pollution, not only from the long-shuttered mills, but from landfills and other hazardous sites. In fact, an astounding nine EPA-designated contaminated sites are located within the four-mile stretch encompassing these communities, including an old finishing plant on the EPA’s national priority list, which includes some of the nation’s most polluted places with the greatest potential risk to public health.

Courtney and other community members sought help in the summer of 2024, after the Department of Environmental Services approved a new 293-acre landfill called Rabbit Hill to be sited in her community, adjacent to an old, closed landfill and Jefferson Elementary School, where her children attend. She initially connected with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, which referred her to SCELP.

“When we first started this journey of protecting our homes, families and this century-old community, we knew that it would be a long, hard battle,” said Courtney. “We did everything we could to stop the mega landfill, but we quickly realized that we were up against something much bigger than us, something we could not fight against unless we had help – a lot of help.”

The legal issue? The permit was approved as a “replacement” for an existing 6.5-acre landfill, despite the new one being hundreds of acres larger. The loophole “replacement” designation significantly eased the permitting process and requirements for the landfill operator, Hilltop C&D, LLC. Without this loophole, the new landfill could not and would not have been approved.

SCELP teamed up with the community and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, filing a challenge to the permit in Administrative Law Court in August. A successful outcome to this permit challenge would result in cumulative environmental benefits, not just for the surrounding community, but for communities across the state that are at risk of having their health, environment and quality of life diminished by permit loopholes like this one.

For residents of Horse Creek Valley, reversal of DES’s decision would have far-reaching positive consequences. Residents have been desperate for relief from the excessive, cumulative burden of decades of pollution in the communities where they live, work and play.