MSW Management | Tourism, Recreation, Education

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Is it possible for environmental education, nature-based tourism, and outdoor recreation to coexist with an active landfill?

By David W. Dantzler, Tom Straka, Larry Gering, and Greg Yarrow

Horry County is located in the northeastern corner of South Carolina and is the largest county in the state in land area. With the sixth-largest population, it is one of South Carolina’s fastest-growing and most-visited counties: More than 13 million people visit Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand annually.

The Horry County Solid Waste Authority (HCSWA) has the responsibility of collecting and disposing the MSW for all of the residents and visitors to the county. In 2005 this was nearly 8 pounds of MSW per person per day for an annual total of 315,398 tons. The HCSWA operates a 727-acre landfill that includes a recycling convenience center, a composting facility, a construction-and-demolition landfill, an MSW landfill, and various other facilities.

One of the goals of the HCSWA is to protect and maintain the environment and natural resources of the area. One way it does this is by educating the public in conservation and recycling through residential, commercial, and school programs. It was also the first landfill in South Carolina to implement a system to capture methane gas from closed portions of the landfill and transform it into electricity, helping to create a successful green power program for the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina.

An Educational and Environmental Opportunity
The HCSWA recently acquired an adjacent 1,187-acre tract of land. It is entirely undeveloped and surrounded by a mixture of privately owned land, undeveloped timberland, residential developments, and state-owned land. One of the bordering properties is the Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve, which is a 9,383-acre natural area managed by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

The authority has several goals for the tract, including landfill activities, but it will also expand its commitment to the environment by restoring neglected ecosystems and maintaining rare habitats to enhance environmental education and recreation opportunities. The HCSWA’s first step in terms of environmental goals was to fund development of wildlife management and natural resource education planning through Clemson University’s Department of Forestry and Natural Resources.

There will be two types of landfill activity occurring on the new tract: storm debris collection and processing and cap-dirt excavation. Horry County is on the Atlantic Ocean, and the HCSWA must provide an area large enough to handle debris from a direct impact on Myrtle Beach by a Category 5 hurricane. There are two areas within the tract that are designated as storm-debris handling facilities, and these areas have been clear-cut and mulched in preparation for debris storage. These areas have a meadowlike appearance, as they have been reseeded with native grasses, and they will provide some use for wildlife until they are needed for debris sorting. Selected areas that are not environmentally sensitive or unique will also be used for excavating cap dirt for the active landfill.

The tract contains many rare, unique habitats that provide excellent opportunities for environmental education and habitat preservation, including several intact Carolina bays, pond-pine pocosins, bay forests, cypress/tupelo swamps, longleaf pine/wiregrass systems, and sinkholes. These assorted habitats provide food and shelter to a variety of wildlife species such as white-tailed deer, fox squirrels, feral hogs, and bobwhite quail. It is also one of the few places on the South Carolina coast with a healthy black bear population.

The variety of flora and fauna, along with its proximity to other natural recreation and tourism resources, makes it an ideal location for developing environmental education, nature-based tourism, and an outdoor recreation center for the community.

Nature is the key to this goal. The tract has the potential for nature-based tourism because it can provide a destination for learning about the different plants and animals that the area has to offer and for discovering techniques to help preserve the area for the enjoyment of future generations.

It also provides an opportunity to learn about the history of the area and the occurrences that helped shape the ecosystems. One example of this could be the area’s storied wildfire history, and the proximity to Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve gives visitors to the area a chance to observe the fauna of multiple coastal ecosystem sites in one trip.

A Management Plan
In order to determine the feasibility of creating an environmental destination, a geographic information system (GIS) was developed for the property. ESRI ArcView 9.1 software was used to process the data inputs that were required to produce the GIS. The GIS allowed many aspects of the property to be examined together in order to develop placement scenarios for such features as an educational center and walking trails. The GIS data comprise many layers of information that were acquired through fieldwork with a global positioning system or through other data sources.

Data that were collected in the field included roads, trails, storm debris facility boundaries, gates, a pond, and several other points of interest. Data that were acquired from other sources included the property lines, wetland boundaries, topographical maps, soil data, aerial photos, and assorted historical data. Some of the interesting points that provide a glimpse into the past of the property include an area that was part of an aerial bombing range during World War II, a possible turpentine collection site, several sinkholes, an earth-and-log bridge that is still in use, and evidence of past tree-growth research.

The GIS produced several maps that will be used to educate users on the features of the property, including the tract topography, wetland boundaries, distribution of the soil classes, road and gate locations, and location of the old bombing-range targets. This laid the groundwork to create three important products: an interpretive trail system, an interactive Web site, and a printed field guide.

The Three Products
The interpretive trail system will be used by visitors to experience the diversity tract. The routing of the proposed trail system was designed with input from the HCSWA land manager and data from the GIS in order to link the existing trails on the property without encroaching on sensitive areas. Several components have been recommended for inclusion on the trail system, such as information kiosks or interpretive signs to display information regarding habitats, plants, and animals, as well as trail directions; raised boardwalks in areas where the trail passes through wetlands; a raised observation platform on the rim of a Carolina bay to showcase the changes in vegetation; and an observation deck over the water in a beaver pond for wildlife viewing.

The interactive Web site will provide information to potential visitors. It also serves as a platform for past visitors to review portions of their trip and learn more about the area. The Web site includes interactive maps with selectable features, photo galleries of interest points, links to historical data for the tract and the general area, a list of habitats, a list of animals, a list of plants, and information on the soil classes on the tract.

All of the maps from the GIS will be available for viewing online. In certain cases the maps will have interactive areas that users can select to learn more about a specific topic. This is done by setting up hyperlinks on individual map features. For example, if Web users want to learn about the turpentine industry, they can select the “turpentine field” point from the map of proposed trails and interest points. Selecting this point will take them to a separate page with photographs of the location on the tract and turpentine industry information from the management plan. The Web site will also include short videos and a gallery of photos of the plants, the animals, and the general features of the property.

Several interactive lists detailing the wildlife and habitats will also be available to online visitors. The habitat list, for example, includes pocosins, Carolina bays, bay forests, swamps, longleaf pine, and ponds. The user can select any one of the habitat types to be taken to a page with information from the management plan about that habitat. Historical data are included relative to the tract’s ownership patterns, use as a bombing range, development, and wildfire history.

A field guide for visitors will be produced, including maps for navigation of the trail system, as well as information on selected plants, animals, and ecosystems. It will be concise and in pamphlet form to facilitate ease of use by trail visitors.

Conclusion
The HCSWA recognizes its new tract as an area with tremendous potential to be a place where industrial use can coexist with environmental education, nature-based tourism, and outdoor recreation. It possesses the diversity and size to support multiple environmental projects and provide a destination for school and community groups to learn about the environment and history of the area. It will also provide an attraction that will give nature enthusiasts another reason to visit the Myrtle Beach area as well as providing the community residents with a place where they can get a sense of origin in a rapidly developing landscape. Developing the trail system, Web site, and field guide to provide this place as a resource to the county will be one more step for the HCSWA in its quest to provide valuable services to the community and to be good stewards of the environment.

David W. Dantzler is a former graduate research assistant, and Tom Straka, Larry Gering, and Greg Yarrow are professors on faculty at Clemson University in Clemson, SC.

MSW - September/October 2007