Columbia Standard

The Three Rivers Solid Waste Authority has named its administration building in Jackson in honor of Calhoun County Council Chairman David K. Summers, the Orangeburg County Democrat reported.

Summers was the first chairman of the authority when it was created in  December 1992, and continued to serve until last February, according to the report.

“I am very honored they awarded and named the building for me,” Summers told the Democrat.

 The building was completed in 2013.

“David is a true leader, a great leader and, without him, the TRSWA  and its landfill would probably never have happened,” Eric  Thompson, former general manager of the TRSWA, told the Democrat. “Because of his  dedication, he made a tremendous contribution to the Three Rivers Solid  Waste Authority and the nine counties that it serves.”

Although Summers is a strong advocate of the private sector, he has praised TRSWA as a government success story with one of the largest permitted landfills in the U.S., the paper reported. 

“We got a place to go with our garbage over the next 100 years, which  is important that you have somewhere to take it,” Summers told the Democrat. “We were  very fortunate to get that piece of land. It has turned out to be real  good. We have had good leadership over there.”

The landfill has served as an alternate disposal site while other counties built their own multimillion-dollar landfills, according to the paper.

“It would have cost a lot more to get a private outfit,” Summers told the Democrat. “We still have to pay for it, but it is not like it would have  been with a private company. We have been fortunate there.”