Roofing company in Andrews, SC

ANDREWS, S.C. (WCSC) - Health officials say a partially demolished building in Andrews is now considered to be contaminated with asbestos after county officials did not obtain a permit from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Crews started the demolition process of the former Andrews High School Gym on March 7, however construction was halted pending an asbestos assessment by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

DHEC determined the 15,000-square-foot building is contaminated with asbestos, and it will require removal through Abatement by Demolition using wet methods with onsite air monitoring, according to DHEC.

Last week, Live 5 reported the county did not obtain an asbestos survey or demolition permit from the Department of Health and Environmental Control.

“The county shouldn’t start something and stop,” nearby homeowner Daniel Green says. “Take it away and take it to the landfill.”

The following information is from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control on Monday regarding an update:

The entire structure is being considered contaminated with regulated asbestos-containing material (RACM). We’ve been told the County Council is expected to meet this week to approve the work plan for safe and proper cleanup and disposal of the RACM. Once they approve their work plan, they can submit the necessary applications to us so that we can approve and issue an asbestos abatement permit.

The issue is set to be discussed as an emergency procurement at the Georgetown County Council meeting on Tuesday, saying in the agenda that the structure was partially demolished before activities ceased pending a review of a current asbestos assessment for the structure.

“The mistake is this trying to find out about the asbestos while they [the county] went ahead and tear it down,” Ivory Davenport, who lives a block away from the building, says.

Also stated in the agenda, the project will cost $340,500 for the demolition, project management and abatement specification plan, which will be done by S&ME, Inc. Funding for the project will come American Rescue Plan funds.

The former Andrews High School gym is located next to homes and a recreation park, concerning nearby community members of the possible health and safety risks.

“We have children and people around here, they are sick,” Green says. “It seems like they just don’t care.”

“It’s only a block away from us, and with this March wind blowing and April rain coming, everybody’s concerned,” Davenport adds. “I have a neighbor right across the street from me that has trouble with his lungs. It’s going to affect us.”

Officials with Georgetown County were not available for an interview at the time of this story.

If approved, funding for the project will come American Rescue Plan funds.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

WILLIAMSBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - Neighbors in Williamsburg County say an unbearable stench from a nearby facility has caused them years of suffering, and despite repeatedly violating the law, it’s still operational.

“It’s like somebody shut you in an old-time loo, outdoor toilet, and pushed your face down in the poo and you have to stay there,” Janey Milligan said. “It eats our lives. It has sucked the air out of every room of our house.”

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, which permits Williamsburg Recycling LLC, is the only agency that has the authority to address the problems at the site. But, much to neighbors’ disappointment, they say DHEC hasn’t taken steps to hold the business properly accountable.

“I call them ‘what the heck’ because it’s unclear as to what they actually do,” Dennis Milligan said.

The Milligans live about a half mile away from the facility on Parker Road in Andrews. It processes sludge or biosolids, a byproduct of the sewage processing at Plum Island in Charleston. It gets delivered by truck every week.

The Hugheys live even closer and say the smell has changed their idyllic lives, for the worse.

“You can’t get rid of it. You can’t escape it,” Travis Hughey. “We’re held prisoner on our own property.”

“Just an assault on life,” Lorie Hughey said.

According to its permit from DHEC, the business is supposed to keep the odor under control and have a plan to keep it in check.

But neighbors have testified time and time again that hasn’t happened.

“It gets so heavy sometimes that you can actually taste it,” Dennis Milligan said.

In the last three years, documents show DHEC inspectors found repeated violations, including but not limited to, the South Carolina Pollution Control Act where it is illegal to discharge any air contaminants to an “undesirable level” which may “unreasonably interfere with enjoyment of life or use of property”.

Last March, an inspector noted an “awful” smell coming from the facility and a “steaming pile” of sludge on the receiving pad.

Two months later investigators tried wearing masks to mute the “extremely strong sewage odor” but found they didn’t have any effect.

In total, DHEC found Williamsburg Recycling was in violation 16 times out of 27 site visits. But according to court records, the owners, Suzanne Conway and Stephen Hekker, question the validity of these visits, complaining that “no scientific or even objective measure of “odor” was taken.

DHEC told the facility it would not be renewing its permit in January 2020, but later rescinded its statement.

It has still not signed off on a draft permit.

“I can’t sleep at night, I get headaches. I am anxious,” Janey said.

The process is considered a green alternative to dumping the waste. But it also saves Charleston Water $1,550 per load by sending the biosolids to Williamsburg County rather than the landfill.

DHEC could also issue a cease-and-desist if the “undesirable level is not corrected [within] the required time” according to the Pollution Act.

But no such thing has come despite the complaints that have continued to pile up like the waste material these neighbors say they often notice on site or left in chunks on the road.

“The law is supposed to protect us,” Travis said.

Last June, DHEC issued a Notice of Alleged Violation, the first step in its enforcement process but this action is still “pending” months later.

Because no final determination has come, DHEC representatives stated they could not comment on the case.

Williamsburg Recycling Notice of Alleged Violation by Live 5 News on Scribd

“We’re just tired of it. We’re done,” Janey said.

DHEC says “in general” businesses actively going through that process are also allowed to continue operation, so Williamsburg Recycling is still active and even hopeful to take on new clients like Mount Pleasant Waterworks.

Conway says what she calls the “bait and switch” by DHEC over the permit and “misleading” statements by agency officials has led to a challenge in court.

Last month, they sued DHEC for violating their due process and putting them at risk of foreclosure.

According to court records, the business alleges business partners were wary to work with them without the updated permit and they’re still on the hook to repay a $2.1 million business loan.

Conway is insistent that the business is following all of the rules and if they were doing anything wrong they’d be “shut down already.”

But that’s exactly what neighbors say has been long overdue.

“This situation permeates and fills every moment of our existence out here,” Travis said.

There is no timeline for a final decision from DHEC, leaving both sides in limbo.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

AK Coffee, at 403 East Main St., has a Christian-themed ambience and also offers discounts to active and retired military members, first responders and those who have legally holstered firearms.

“There was no coffee shop (in Andrews) and we both like coffee, so we decided to open a coffee shop," said Abe Thietten, who co-owns the store with his wife Kandy. "We found this building and bought it and we really wanted to do something to serve God, so it’s a Christian-based coffee shop.”

The shop opened on Oct. 7. The Thiettens, who used to live in Idaho, quit their jobs, bought an RV and traveled across the country in 2021, hitting 43 states along the way. En route to Florida for the winter, they stopped in Myrtle Beach and liked the weather.

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“I always wanted to flip a house, and so we fixed up a house and ended up getting to know the community and we liked all the churches and liked the people here,” Abe Thietten said.

The Thiettens have prior experience working in the coffee business and consider themselves connoisseurs.

Abe Thietten said all of the vendors and roaster they use are local in an effort to “help the town out as much as we can”. The shop also features a bookshelf filled with Bibles and Christian-based books.

AK has Bible verses posted throughout the building. The Thiettens also have a prayer station where patrons can submit prayer requests, which they read at 9 a.m. every morning as part of a daily prayer in the shop.

“We stop what we’re doing no matter how many people we have and say a prayer for the town,” Abe Thietten said.

The shop also has a conference room where Bible studies are held and offers free Wi-Fi and a drive-thru.

“We’ve gotten to know more people and this town has got the best people,” Kandy Thietten said. “You couldn’t find better.”

The shop’s menu features hot, iced and blended lattes, frappes, Italian sodas, and cookies, brownies and breakfast sandwiches brought in by local bakers and cooks.

The Black River Initiative is part of a community-driven effort to establish a new recreational water trail that connects public land along 70 miles of river through Williamsburg and Georgetown counties while providing flood mitigation and boosting local tourism. Spearheading the effort is national conservation group Open Space Institute, which recently purchased the 1,806-acre tract located near downtown Andrews from the American timberland company Weyerhaeuser for just over $6.4 million.

“Conservation works best when it contributes to the local economy, community, and culture of a place. The Weyerhaeuser tract checks all of the boxes,” said Maria Whitehead, OSI’s vice president of land, in a release. “OSI is incredibly grateful for the funding partners that came together to make this project happen, and for the engagement and commitment of our state and industry partners.”

Funding for the property came from the South Carolina Conservation Bank, the South Carolina Office of Resilience, the Boeing Co., the Knobloch Family Foundation and additional private sources.

OSI officials said the newly secured land complements Andrews’ recently unveiled master plan, which was put together with community input and land-planning consultants Earth Design and Arnett Muldrow.

The 17-page document outlines a vision of vibrant, flood-resilient park spaces, accessibility to a future state park and welcoming streetscapes for the town of more than 2,500.

The 1,806 acres will offer both residents and visitors opportunities for biking, paddling, hiking and fishing in the future.

“In Andrews, we have a new plan and new hope,” Mayor Frank McClary said. “We plan to harness — and showcase — the world-class Black River experience to help create sustainable new jobs and opportunities for local residents.”

Straddling the Williamsburg-Georgetown county line, Andrews was the headquarters of the T-shirt giant Oneita Knitting Mills, which once employed more than 1,000 people in the town. The plant closed in 1996, the company filed for bankruptcy and the town hasn't recovered from the blow.

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From 2010 to 2020, as South Carolina’s population swelled by 10.7 percent and Georgetown County saw 5.4 percent growth, the number of people living in Andrews dropped by 10 percent, according to U.S. census data.

But town leaders see the Black River Initiative — and the arrival of a state park — as a potential driver of tourism.

Outdoor recreation in South Carolina generates more than 72,000 direct jobs, $5.7 billion in total outdoor recreation value and $2.9 billion in wages and salaries, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Outdoor Industry Association.

The Weyerhaeuser tract will be the largest parcel in the 70-mile network of 12 parks, bringing the total of Black River State Park land to 3,500 acres, not including the parks owned and operated by municipal, private and nonprofit partners, according to OSI.

The state park was created when the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism acquired a similar riverside property from OSI in 2021. OSI said it will hold and take care of the 1,806 acres for an undetermined period of time until the property can be transferred to the Parks Department.

“I firmly believe that protected public lands are essential to the state’s economic future,” Gov. Henry McMaster said in a statement. “I am proud of our state’s investment in this future park and am delighted that industry giant Boeing continues to invest in this transformational project that will allow current and future generations to appreciate and enjoy the unique beauty of the Black River.”

Boeing made an initial investment in the Black River Initiative in 2021 when it partnered with The Nature Conservancy in the purchase of the “Park Ranger” tract, a 163-acre piece of property that serves as the Black River’s station. The Arlington, Va.-based planemaker’s grant to OSI will assist in planning, designing, building and promoting the new park network.

ANDREWS, S.C. (WMBF) - A new coffee shop in Georgetown County is offering a unique discount and opportunity for education to gun owners who walk through their doors.

While the coffee shop has been open for weeks, AK Coffee held its grand opening Friday. Dozens of locals turned out for the event, complete with a ribbon cutting, live music and even an appearance from Santa!

What makes AK Coffee so unique is its policy on firearms. While most businesses have a sign on the door that reads, “No firearms allowed,” AK Coffee does things differently.

“We want to encourage law-abiding citizens to be able to protect themselves,” Kandy Thietten says.

Kandy and her husband, Abe, own AK Coffee. They moved to South Carolina from Idaho, eventually settling in Andrews.

“I figure if criminals know people are armed, everybody’s safer.”

If you bring a gun to AK Coffee, you may qualify for a 10% discount. Abe and Kandy have some rules you must follow to receive the discount.

“It has to be in a holster,” Kandy says. “It can’t be floating around in your purse or shoved into your waistband. It has to be holstered. We’re all about safety.”

Abe added that they haven’t had any issues with people bringing their guns to the shop.

They also offer discounts for military and first responders. Active duty and retired military get a 10% discount and first responders get a 50% discount, something they attribute to Andrews’ entire fire department being staffed by volunteers.

On top of encouraging and educating people about safe, legal gun ownership, AK Coffee wants to be a community pillar.

Norberto Luna lives in Andrews and frequents AK Coffee. He says Andrews desperately needs a community gathering spot.

“Get together, talk, solve problems between people, kids, and everything,” Luna says of his vision for AK Coffee. “We’re all in this boat together, and people forget about that. Just a place to get together.”

Luna says he knows young people in and around Andrews are bored; he cited a local parking lot as the hottest hangout spot. He says that boredom is what leads kids to get into trouble.

To appeal to a younger crowd, Abe and Kandy are planning on enhancing their customers’ experiences. They’re planning to add karaoke, a pool table, cornhole and even food trucks. They just installed a stage in the shop, and hope to have live music more frequently.

Luna says there’s no reason to turn down a trip to AK Coffee if you’re in the area.

“Nice part of town, plenty of parking, it’s good,” Luna says. “I highly recommend it.”

You can visit AK Coffee’s website here.

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