Dirt truck concerns alleviated, more is learned about SPA project

Concerns over potential truckloads of dirt traversing down Clements Ferry Road as part of a State Ports Authority project were eased slightly this week, after Berkeley County Councilman Josh Whitley reported that he had learned more details about the initiative.

Whitley told The Daniel Island News that he had spoken with an official at the State Ports Authority about their plan to utilize a dirt pit off Clements Ferry Road to provide at least some of the fill for the new Hugh Leatherman Terminal (HLT) at the old Navy base in North Charleston.

According to Whitley, the SPA owns a 115-acre site off Jack Primus Road located directly behind a dirt pit currently owned and operated by O.L. Thompson Construction. A permit application has been filed by O.L. Thompson with the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control to create and operate a new dirt mine on the SPA property as part of the HLT fill project. A public hearing on the application is planned for 6 p.m. on February 23 in the City Council Chambers at North Charleston City Hall (for more information, visit http://www.scdhec.gov/PublicNotices/).

The HLT requires a total of about six million yards of sand to fill the site, 75 percent of which must come by water to reduce the amount of trucks on the road, stated Whitley. The new Jack Primus dirt mine, if approved, would provide about two million yards that would be excavated on the site and sent by barge via the Cooper River to the HLT. Dirt collected and barged from there would have “zero impact” on traffic on Clements Ferry Road, added Whitley. But if additional fill comes from other locations and is trucked to the Jack Primus site for transport, it could bring an additional 300 vehicles a day to the roadway.

“The traffic impact will come from the four million yards,” said Whitley. “…They do not know where it is coming from yet, but those contractors will be entitled to truck it to Clements Ferry Road and Jack Primus.”

According to SPA Spokesperson Erin Dhand, the SPA is looking at other places in the region to obtain fill for the new terminal, but could not confirm whether Clements Ferry Road would be used as part of the transport.

“Some of the material would be mined from our property on Clements Ferry Road,” stated Dhand. “We’re evaluating all sources of additional fill material to minimize the potential for traffic impacts to the Clements Ferry area, but a source hasn’t been selected yet.”

Dhand said the dirt transport from the Clements Ferry Road site to the terminal would take place for about two years, starting in the Spring of 2017. According to Whitley, a public transport plan would ultimately need to be approved by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Daniel Island Publishing

225 Seven Farms Drive
Unit 108
Daniel Island, SC 29492 

Office Number: 843-856-1999
Fax Number: 843-856-8555

 

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