August 25, 1999 Augusta Chronicle

S.C. governor wants to end nuclear dumping

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- As governor, David Beasley did not want to tax video gambling because it might make the state dependent on what he saw as an evil industry.

However, Beasley's critics say he created a monster by instead linking $1.4 billion in education funding to accepting the nation's nuclear waste.

Beasley, a Republican, pushed the General Assembly to open South Carolina's low-level nuclear waste landfill in Barnwell County to the nation in 1995. He said a regional compact that was supposed to build a replacement landfill in North Carolina was ineffective.

The man who beat Beasley, Democrat Jim Hodges, how has created an advisory group to find how to end the state's role as what he says is the "dumping ground" for the nation's nuclear waste.

"The governor doesn't believe South Carolina needs to take nuclear waste from around the country, whether it's helping education or not," Hodges spokeswoman Nina Brook said.

"No other state in the nation needs nuclear waste for education. It is an insult to the people of South Carolina," task force member Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, said.

The money coming from Barnwell is a "pittance" and should not affect any decision on its future, Beasley said. There is a big difference between taking funds from video gambling and from the Barnwell facility, he said.

"There's a big difference between crack cocaine and aspirin as well," he said in a telephone interview with The (Charleston) Post and Courier. "You've got to have waste. Gambling's a whole different ball game. That's an addiction on the people."

The Barnwell facility, run by Chem-Nuclear Systems Inc., has raised $163 million for the state's schools in the past four years. That is a sharp drop from the 1995 that it would produce $140 million a year, or $1.4 billion over 10 years.

Educators were among those arguing in favor of continuing the stream of waste into South Carolina at public hearings this week. They worry that funding will not be replaced if the Barnwell facility is closed or scaled back.

The money from Barnwell has been particularly helpful to small school districts, education lobbyist Al Eades said.

"In many cases, they didn't even have a nickel for maintenance," Eades said.

Opponents said South Carolina should be able to fund schools without using money from controversial industries such as nuclear waste disposal and video gambling.

House Majority Leader Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, said it is appropriate for the Legislature to take another look at what to do with the Barnwell facility, but as long as it remains open, he said, he does not see a problem with the money going to schools.

"If you're going to have revenues coming from the industry, then education is a good place to be spending those revenues," Harrell said.

The Legislature this year approved $418 million in new education spending and a bond bill including $750 million for school construction. Educators say the new money will only make a dent in the needs.