ANDERSON, SC - As part of continuing efforts to promote air quality initiatives, Anderson County Council Chairman Michael Thompson (pictured) invites County residents to Shredding Day on Saturday, February 23, 2008 from 9-2 p.m. in the parking lot of the Anderson Sports and Entertainment Center near the baseball fields.

Co-sponsored by Anderson County, Shred Away, and the Outdoor Burning Taskforce, this event is another of Anderson County’s continuing efforts to move toward compliance with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandates since the Early Action Compact was signed with the EPA in 2005.

“We need to do everything within our power to preserve and protect our environment,” said Anderson County Council Chairman Michael Thompson. “We hope to encourage residents to shred their old documents, rather than burn them or send them to our landfill. We have partnered with Shred Away, a local business that recycles the refuse instead of incinerating and pumping pollutants into our air. I see this as a win-win solution to an issue that needs to be addressed.”

“We are attempting to engage the community by providing viable opportunities to help protect our County’s air quality while at the same time sparing our landfill from unnecessary usage,” said Anderson County Administrator Joey R. Preston. This new initiative builds upon the foundation laid in our Early Action Compact with EPA.. As part of the Compact, we planned, organized and implemented internal ozone reduction programs as well as fostered community ozone reduction programs, Educational initiatives continue with efforts to inform and remind Anderson County business, industry and citizens to utilize all air quality improvement methods including ozone reduction methods. The goals of this taskforce reinforce Anderson County’s proactive efforts to maintain air quality standards as well as educate residents on how to partner with federal, state and local entities to make Anderson County a healthy place to live, work and play.”

“Anderson County worked very hard to meet and maintain the air quality standards commitments that we made in the Early Action Compact with EPA,” said Burriss Nelson, Anderson County Economic Development, Retail & Commercial Development. EPA and SCDHEC expect us to continue with the hard work and will be measuring and monitoring us by what we continue to accomplish and improve and not on what we have done in the past.. This program shows our continuing commitment to build upon what we have accomplished and constantly look for new ways to be good stewards of our environment.”

Early Action Compact Air Quality Initiatives

1. Vent-less gas tank exchange
2. County low sulfur diesel use and County Ethanol use
3. Congestion relief on County roads
4. Bike lanes on county roads
5. Traffic sync projects – Greenville Street
6. Devise or improve feasible mass transit projects (seek funds for implementation)
7. County effort to purchase and phase in hybrid & alternative fuel vehicles
8. Request all School districts upgrade bus fleet and institute no idle regulations
9. CAT to Tri-County & Anderson free shuttle service (grant funded)
10. Car pool/ park & ride, encourage alternative transport (bike, walk, to work)
11. Lee Steam Ozone reduction equipment
12. Anderson Land Use implementation of greenway/space & intensity standards
13. Prohibition of open burning

After initiating the Outdoor Burning Taskforce in September 2006, Council Chairman Thompson sponsored Anderson County Resolution R2007-003 which recognized January 2007 as Outdoor Burning Hazard Prevention Education Month in Anderson County and ignited the Learn to Burn program late last year. Learn to Burn featured billboards with the phone number to call for information about burning. This latest initiative, Shred Day, is another avenue to tackle the issue of improving and protecting Anderson County’s air quality and protecting our landfill from unnecessary usage.

Additionally, the County continues an annual vent-less gas can exchange program. Other air quality campaigns are in development and will be online soon. For more information about how you can be a part of efforts to improve air quality, contact Burriss Nelson at 260-4231.