Legal Action Update

silfabmove
Apr 26
2 min read

Holding SC DES Accountable for Silfab's Air Permit

Our attorney has just filed an exhaustive 33-page appellate brief with the South Carolina Court of Appeals. The goal: to hold the SC Department of Environmental Services (DES - formerly DHEC) accountable for ignoring the citizen's appeal after DES made major, unannounced changes to Silfab's air permit. Silfab’s changes—including lowering the acid scrubber stack from 70 feet to 50 feet, expanding its diameter from 1.5 feet to 5.5 feet, and cutting the exhaust speed in half—were rubber-stamped as “minor” by DES, even though the law requires public notice, review, and community feedback for changes of this scale. These alterations dramatically affect the facility’s Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), Toxic Air Pollutants (TAP), and Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAP).

This isn’t the first time DES has tried to sidestep public accountability, and the Court of Appeals has already struck down similar attempts in the past. We are hopeful that, once a judge hears our case, Silfab’s air permit will be stayed—meaning the court would temporarily halt or suspend the permit, preventing Silfab from using it to continue construction or operation until the legal challenge is resolved. In other words, if the permit is stayed, Silfab would not be allowed to move forward under that permit until the court makes a final decision. That pause is critical to protecting our community while the court weighs the facts.

Where We Stand Now:

There are currently three separate legal cases involving Silfab:

2024CP4602641: Silfab’s appeal of the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) ruling.
2024CP4603532: CAGI’s lawsuit against Silfab, York County, and Exeter.
24-ALJ-07-0367-CC: Adjacent neighbor Wally Buchanan's challenge to Silfab’s air permit issued by DES (the focus of this update)

Read the brief here: