DHEC professionals protect health, environment
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control is many things to many people from being the repository of birth certificates to County Health Departments to regulating landfills and the water we drink, the air we breath and the disposal of our waste.
Little in the area of improvements to real property gets done in South Carolina without DHEC’s oversight and approval. In addition to all of the department’s other responsibilities, the State employees responsible for permitting improvements to real property, which include air quality, construction run-off, wetlands, water and waste water systems and other requirements are the ones many engineers must deal with on a regular basis.
Many of the individuals on this side of DHEC are professional engineers, geologists, hydrologists and other scientists. They are well educated, have professional qualifications and are conscious of their responsibilities to their superiors and to the state’s citizens.
After all, their responsibility is to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public. While this responsibility is huge, it is not to keep the state from developing its potential.
Furthermore, DHEC is often tasked to require compliance with federal laws and regulations, which may be more or less to everyone’s liking. The generally accepted guidelines for parameters of natural and unnatural substances are the parameters which DHEC must regulate. These guidelines have and will change over time.
South Carolina has searched for industries to employee its citizens, reasonable and plentiful energy to fuel those industries as well as other industry needs while wanting to keep its citizens and the environment healthy. The professionals at DHEC do their part to accomplish this balance everyday.
Granted, DHEC has to run lean, especially during the current recession; they have had budget cuts as other agencies. Furthermore, keeping a professional work force, like the department requires, is difficult. State agencies cannot compete with many employers in salaries, but the department makes up for the salary differences by hiring less experienced employees and giving them the chance to gain experience. Therefore, DHEC has significant turnover in the professional ranks. However, the state and DHEC owe a lot to those professionals who make the department their career; these individuals are the supervisors and trainers that keep the agency working.
For all the problems and examples where DHEC may have seemed to miss its mark, there are thousands of permits that were done properly with proper oversight. Engineers who work with the professionals at DHEC commend them for the job they do. They should hold their heads high and be proud of the work and protection they provide.
Joe S. Jones
Executive Director
American Council of Engineering Companies of South Carolina
For additional information, contact: (803) 898-3432