IN SPORTS:
Saints looking for revenge against Bobcats
B1
Remember your veggies Mix things up this holiday season with new recipes C8
SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014
75 CENTS
Don’t miss sign-ups for health coverage
Home of the brave
Experts at health center can help during enrollment dates BY JADE REYNOLDS jade@theitem.com The Affordable Care Act Marketplace opens again for enrollment Saturday. This time, the window to sign up is much shorter — Nov. 15 through Feb. 15, 2015, versus October 2013 to April 2014. There are five companies offering as many as 64 plans in four categories — catastrophic, bronze, silver and gold. Rates differ depending on an applicant’s county. But don’t worry. You don’t have to figure this all out on your own. Sonya Del Rio and Quinnishia Dennis are outreach and enrollment coordinators with Sumter Family Health Center who aim to help people understand their options and how to enroll. As certified application counselors, they have had 20 hours of online training and passed tests to receive their identification numbers. Their services are free.
SEE HEALTH CARE, PAGE A5
Group invites community to its 2nd march BY MATT BRUCE matthew@theitem.com MATT WALSH / THE SUMTER ITEM
Three months after storming onto the scene with an anti-violence rally that drew hundreds of supporters, a Sumter-based coalition will be staging another “Stop the Violence” march this weekend in town. OneSumter, an alliance of local leaders, activists and elected officials, is organizing the march, which is slated to step off at 10 a.m. Saturday from Crosswell Drive Elementary School, 301 Crosswell Drive. Group officials set plans for the event during OneSumter’s monthly meeting Sunday night at Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church. They are expected to finalize the march’s route during a planning meeting Thursday night. The march will mark the second time this year OneSumter takes its concerns to the streets. In August, more than 500 people turned out for a march up Main Street in what proved to be the community group’s introduction to Sumter. It comes on the heels of a town hall discussion concerning crime which took place Thursday night. OneSumter officials said the panel discussion and march are part of an effort to bring more awareness of crime in the community. OneSumter bills itself as a comprehensive
SEE MARCH, PAGE A9
Maj. Jason Kneuer salutes during the national anthem while standing with his daughter Josephine Kneuer, right, as his daughter Claire Kneuer waves an American flag at the annual Veterans Day Program put on by the Sumter County Veterans Association in front of the old Sumter County Courthouse. After the program, 40 businesses and nonprofit organizations thanked active military members and veterans for their service and shared information about services they offer to military members. The keynote speaker was Col. Stephen Jost, commander of 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw Air Force Base.
Toxic landfill gas builds up at dump DHEC says vapors aren’t immediate threat to lake BY SAMMY FRETWELL The State COLUMBIA — Hazardous chemical vapors are leaking through the top of an industrial waste dump along Lake Marion and are suspected of contaminating shallow groundwater near the surface of the 36-year-old site. Nearly 20 different chemicals, some at concentrations above safe drinking water standards, have shown up in groundwater atop a plastic liner installed decades ago to protect the environment from the now-abandoned waste dump near Pinewood, according to a recent con-
DEATHS, B5 and B6
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sulting study. State regulators have known about the issue for about three years, records show, but they said the contamination isn’t a threat to Lake Marion. Several consultants familiar with the closed landfill, however, say something needs to be done before pollution begins trickling toward the lake from the site. They favor beefing up protective barriers in the landfill’s oldest section to safeguard Lake Marion, a plan the state Department of Health and Environmental Control says could cost more than $12 million. The main area of concern is the Sumter County landfill’s original and most leak-prone section. Lake Marion, a water supply source and major recreation destination, is four football fields from
Helen Haltiwanger Carol Burr Eli M. Parker Eloise Sparks Howard Ruth T. Robinson Tanisha D. Brailsford
Leroy Briggs Anne S. Lynch Willie J. Hickmon Moses Scriven Virginia Bennett Ashton Benbow Jr.
Mary H. Rickman Johnny Washington James Montalbano William T. Murphy
the dump. A drainage ditch to the lake is about 75 feet away from part of the landfill. Clemson University researcher Ron Falta said the state may need to improve the existing cap or install a new cap over the original part of the dump to limit seeping vapors, protect groundwater and shield Lake Marion from potential threats. Installing a new cap would involve dumping more dirt and clay on top of the existing cap and installing another synthetic liner. A stronger cap over the original section of the landfill not only would help keep toxic vapors inside, but would also keep rainwater from leaking in from the outside, said Falta, who studies the transport of hazardous chemicals.
SEE LANDFILL, PAGE A9
WEATHER, A10
INSIDE
A LITTLE FOGGY
3 SECTIONS, 26 PAGES VOL. 120, NO. 25
Fog this morning, then sunny; partly cloudy tonight HIGH 76, LOW 52
Classifieds B7 Comics C6 Lotteries A10 Opinion A8 Television C7