Jasper Co. residents try to stop proposed sand mine; County council set to visit Thursday

JASPER COUNTY, S.C. (WTOC) - One Jasper County community is calling for the county to stop a proposed sand mine from coming to their neighborhood.

Residents in the Grays community are concerned that a sand mine would compromise the air quality, contaminate or deplete their water supply, and devalue the land they have lived on for years.

In the front yard of several homes, American flags fly.

Residents there say that they signify that the community stands together and that they will fight the proposed sand mine together.

“This is a very pristine, quiet community, and this is the last thing we want here,” Grays resident, Donna McIver said.

The 60-acre mine would create more building materials for one of the fastest-growing counties in the country.

It would be located on Pine Level Church Road.

A place where residents originally thought the owner of the property was building something else

“At the time, we were relieved because we were under the impression that since a developer had bought that, it would be a cookie-cutter subdivision,” Grays resident, Brittany Bishop said.

Bishop later learned that it would be a sand mine.

A sand mine that is still in need of the county to approve a zoning request and a development agreement is still being negotiated between the county and the owner to fine-tune what happens on the property.

WTOC reached out to the developer of the mine, and they say that they have heard concerns through public forums and have been following all necessary state and county guidelines to open the mine.

“They need to realize that this could be their legacy if they pass this,” McIver said. “I don’t think they want that.”

The Bishop family lives right next to the mine with their family in a home that has been in the family for years.

They homeschool their children and eat what they grow on their six acres of property, so the idea of a sand mine moving next door would be detrimental to them.

Potentially taking water from their supply that was already depleted by Hurricane Helene, and sending dust into the air that can be deadly.

“My kids run around outside all day long,” Adam Bishop said.

“How do you tell them they can’t play outside because the wind is blowing dust from the mine,” Brittany Bishop said.

And even would consider a future move if it is approved.

“We put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into this place since we moved in to start homesteading and providing a better life for our kids, but I cannot subject my kids to something like silica dust in the air or poor water quality from the aquifer,” Adam Bishop said.

On Thursday, the Jasper County Council is expected to meet in this area to talk with people who live near the proposed sand mine.

County officials tell WTOC that the sand mine will probably not be discussed at the county’s meeting next Tuesday and will instead be discussed at the county’s meeting in early February.