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Veronica Thompson Frink’s property in Loris has gradually settled over the last 25 years, leaving her home unlevel with buckling ceilings, uneven doors and necessary flooring replacements.
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Thompson Frink lives on Cedar Branch Road adjacent to the North Myrtle Beach Quarry, which she blames for the foundational issues she has had to financially pour into. Now Wake Stone Corporation, which owns the quarry, has proposed to modify its existing mining permit to drill into land that could come within 50 feet of her property line.
“I really wish they would have never came,” Thompson Frink said.
The quarry is located off Highway 9 and Cedar Branch Road. Wake Stone currently has land, referred to as Reserve Block D and is used as a buffer between properties, consisting of 94.1 acres. The proposal to expand would allow mining in that area, and the state only requires a minimum 50-foot buffer between mining operations and residential property.
Allergies from dust, sinkholes and ‘no proper rest’
Landowners near the quarry largely inherited property from their ancestors, and the tight-knit community is worried it’s being taken away.
Cedar Branch residents have already dealt with impacts from the quarry with a significant buffer, including nearby sinkholes, worsening allergies from dust and sleep deprivation from noise through the night.
“I haven’t been able to get no proper rest. My neighbors haven’t been able to get proper rest,” Thompson Frink said.
The lack of peace became too much for her, to the point where she would find other places to stay on and off for a period of 10 years in search of a decent night’s sleep.
What’s included in the proposal?
Wake Stone has proposed to modify its mining permit to change 94.1 acres of designated buffer to affected land, or land that will be mined for limestone. The 94 acres directly abuts three properties on Cedar Branch Road, including Thompson Frink’s.
The site included 2.92 acres of wetlands, but it has already received a permitted approval through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers because of minimal environmental impacts.
The South Carolina Department of Environmental Services is requiring a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, which addresses water quality issues for stormwater and wastewater discharged from the site.
The proposal also included a reclamation plan to create a lake once mining is completed. But there is no timeline of when work will be completed in Block D, which is typically required, said Monica Whalen, staff attorney for the South Carolina Environmental Law Project.
Whalen said during a review of the proposal she thought that there isn’t enough defining information available to the public because the permit application appears to have inconsistencies with acreage that would be affected.
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“It just seems unclear right now what exactly the scope of this expansion will be,” Whalen said.
Whalen said the mining permit was originally issued in the early 2000s, and there have already been several modifications since.
SCDES is accepting comments until Sept. 11, 2026. Comments can be addressed to Colby Myers at (803) 898-3079 or [email protected], or addressed to SCDES BLWM, 2600 Bull St., Columbia, South Carolina, 29201.
A tight-knit community fighting to protect its land
Vangalene and Joseph Frinks currently live on Hemingway Road, and are planning to build a home on Cedar Branch Road about a mile from the proposed expansion site, but they are worried about sinkholes destroying their land.
Joseph said he thinks the property value will continue to diminish if mining persists. He said his community can’t afford the constant damage and needed repairs.
James Hemingway owns land in the Cedar Branch community but does not currently live there, though his ties to the area are still immense.
His aunt lives on land that would also abut the proposed expansion site. She has already dealt with caving land and has had to replace her floor. He’s worried what would happen if the site comes even closer.
“I feel one day it’s gonna come to the point where the house may even fall in the ground or something,” he said.
Hemingway said his property was gifted from his ancestors, along with all of his neighbors. With the quarry continuing to expand operations, he’s worried his community is being taken from.
“We don’t have a lot of resources like other areas have,” he said. “If we don’t protect what we have there, we will lose it all.”
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