"S.C. legislators are being asked to loosen state rules so a New Jersey company can build a $450 million garbage incinerator in jobs-hungry Chester County.

The change would let Covanta Energy burn substantially more trash than is now allowed in South Carolina - including garbage from other states, such as North Carolina.

Covanta's proposal has touched off a debate in South Carolina among environmentalists, Chester County industrial recruiters and politicians over the benefits of a trash incinerator near Fort Lawn, just west of the Catawba River

Supporters of the project say Covanta's "waste-to-energy" facility will create up to 500 construction jobs and 55 permanent positions - paying about $60,000 - in a county with an unemployment rate of 22 percent."

Sammy Fretwell reports for The State [SC] February 16, 2010. [2]