COASTAL OBSERVER

The city of Georgetown issued a demolition permit this week for the steel mill that has anchored its waterfront since 1969. What will go up in its place depends on what happens on the site of the nearby International Paper Co. mill that closed last fall, said state Rep. Lee Hewitt.

“If you have smokestacks and smell and all that, it’s definitely going to impact what you do on the site,” he said.

The steel mill property is under contract to an unnamed buyer. Hewitt, whose district includes the site, has introduced him to local officials.

Those same officials, and staff from the state Department of Commerce, heard in January about a plan to convert the paper mill property into a power plant that would burn wood chips, a process known as biomass.

The buyer, also unidentified, proposes adding two boilers to the existing plant that powered the paper mill.

“The point is to generate electricity,” state Sen. Stephen Goldfinch said. “Santee Cooper needs more energy.”

The state owned utility plans to close its coal-burning Winyah Generating Station outside Georgetown once electricity from other sources comes online in the 2030s.

The buyer of the paper mill was also interested in the steel mill site, Goldfinch said.

“It just never came together,” he said.

The steel mill buyer was also interested in the paper mill property, Hewitt said.

“I don’t want to say he’s not going to do the steel mill if he doesn’t get IP,” he said. “It changes what he’s going to do with the property.”

A group called Citizens for Georgetown emerged last month to oppose the biomass plant. It is led by Tom Swatzel, a former County Council member and a political consultant. So far he is the only identified member of the group.

“The supporters are wanting to stay in the background,” he said.

But the group issued the results of a poll last week that claims county voters don’t support the biomass plant. That was based on the plant “bringing more pollution, low-wage jobs, and no real plan to clean up the land,” according to the poll question.

The respondents supported a plan for the steel mill that will “clean it up and bring in good-paying jobs, including high-tech and advanced manufacturing.”
Swatzel said the Citizens for Georgetown is not connected with the steel mill buyer or anyone involved in the deal. He also said he didn’t know the details of the plans for either site.

“You’ve got buyers out there, obviously. I don’t know who they are,” Swatzel said. “All we’re saying is that it would be better for the city if it was development on the waterfront that didn’t bring smokestacks back, that was forward-thinking, that had some synergy between all the property.”

The waterfront between the two mills is now owned by Georgetown County after Hewitt led its transfer from the State Ports Authority in 2023.

Goldfinch disputes the survey and its purpose.

“They don’t care what it is as long as they get control of the site,” he said.

He thinks it makes sense to keep the existing power plant at the paper mill. Since it won’t be bleaching wood pulp to create paper, “there’s not going to be any smell,” he added. “The smell is from the paper.”

The plant will also bring other tenants to the site, Goldfinch said.

Hewitt said no one has talked with him about the biomass plant. “My position has been I’m going to work with whoever the buyer is and work with the community,” he said.

He thinks a power plant could be built elsewhere. The steel mill buyer is also interested in industrial use. “Just not smokestacks,” Hewitt said.