Man facing prison after illegally dumping waste

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A man faces up to three years in prison after an investigation found he dumped hazardous landfill waste in Richland County.

Michael Greene, 44, pleaded guilty on Monday to illegally dumping runoff water from a Richland County landfill that was supposed to have been taken to an approved dumping site in Florence, according to a news release from the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, but was instead dumped in creeks southeast of Columbia.

In June 2017, an Eastover resident contacted SCDNR officer Treye Byars to report seeing a chemical tanker truck parked off Highway 601 and Westvaco Road several times. Each time the truck was spotted, the resident noticed “an awful smell in the area,” according to the release.

Another tip came in a month later, when someone reported the truck in the area again on July 7, 2017.

When Byars arrived to investigate, the truck was gone “but he noticed a sewage-type smell” and called the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control to collect samples at the site, the release said.

Four days later, photos were taken of Greene and the truck in the area again, “appearing to be dumping,” the release said. State authorities called in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to assist in the investigation.

The investigation showed that the trucking company Greene worked for was contracted to haul and dump 75 tons a day of leachate, or runoff water from a landfill, to the Florence site. The runoff water contained at least 17 different chemicals, including mercury, lead, lithium and selenium, according to DNR.

The State newspaper reported that Greene was a driver for Lexington County-based A&D Environmental Services.

A&D Environmental Services did not immediately return a message.

Greene was indicted in January.

“I’m very proud of Treye Byars and his dedication to seeing this through from beginning to end,” Lt. Col. Jamie Landrum said in the release. “He took a tip from a concerned citizen and that tip turned into a major EPA violation. No matter how big or how small the public might think their tip is, let us know because we’ll always investigate it thoroughly. That just shows the dedication and hard work our officers do day in and day out.”

Authorities are still investigating the dumping.