By By Conor Hughes

Copyright postandcourier

Greenville County is looking to expand the Twin Chimneys Landfill using a $10 million bond to keep up with demand.

The new cell — a section of the landfill where waste is compacted and covered — will be roughly 1.7 million cubic yards, according to Deputy County Administrator Ted Lambrecht. The bond would also pay for an excavator and compactor.

The plans come about a year and a half after the rapidly growing county approved an $11.5 million bond to pay for a similar capacity project at the landfill.

During a Sept. 8 meeting of County Council’s finance committee, County Administrator Joe Kernell said staggering the two bond issuances and construction projects is in line with the county’s long-term planning. He said it was necessary to prioritize the cell funded through the $11.5 million bond because the landfill was running out of usable space.

That cell is scheduled to go into service as construction proceeds on the proposed project over the next 18 months.

“This was the plan all along to split them up,” he said.

Twin Chimneys, which opened in 2007 to replace the Enoree Landfill and increase the area’s waste capacity, covers 1,155 acres off Augusta Road in southern Greenville County.

Kernell said the planned project is not expected to directly affect fees which, with dedicated property tax revenue, fund landfill operations.

“This won’t, itself, trigger an increase,” he told the committee. “But we’re always looking at the rates and everything to make sure we’re being competitive and making sure we’re not giving the space away. It’s a very important asset we have out there, and we want to make sure we capitalize it properly.”

Kernell doesn’t anticipate the county will have to build another cell for several years.

Hundreds of acres remain unused on the Twin Chimneys’ property, he said, and he expects the landfill has roughly 50 years left in its lifespan, depending on construction quality and other variables.