{"id":4583,"date":"2026-08-12T22:06:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T22:06:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4583"},"modified":"2026-08-12T22:06:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T22:06:43","slug":"ridiculous-governor-critical-of-sc-agency-plan-to-charge-man-2-4m-for-records-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4583","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Ridiculous.\u2019 Governor critical of SC agency plan to charge man $2.4M for records"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Gov. Henry McMaster is criticizing a state agency for telling a citizen it would cost $2.4 million to fulfill an open records request for public documents about pollution at an elementary school.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4582\">Ex-federal corrections officer indicted in $60k bribery scheme, prosecutors say<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>McMaster labeled the Department of Environmental Services estimated cost \u201cridiculous\u2019\u2019 and unwarranted.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat should never have been sent out like that,\u2019\u2019 the governor said during a session with reporters this week.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The Department of Environmental Services, a cabinet agency under McMaster, told Darlington County businessman Brady Hill, in an email July 17, that his request for information was so broad it would generate more than three million records.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>That put the cost to compile and provide the records at $2.4 million, the department said. The agency told Hill it needed a more than $600,000 deposit to begin processing the records request.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>But the S.C. Freedom of Information Act request by Hill was specific to the school, according to a copy obtained by The State newspaper. Hill has questioned why the agency said it was overly broad.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>After a torrent of criticism, the environmental agency said it would provide the records to Hill for free. Some of that information was being released this week.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The issue centers on forever chemical pollution at Black Creek Elementary School in rural Darlington County. The chemicals, which can cause certain types of cancer, have been found in the soil of school playgrounds by the environmental department, but agency officials say the levels aren\u2019t enough for immediate concern.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Hill and others have sought records to learn more about why the agency came to that conclusion because some forever chemical levels exceeded certain federal pollution standards.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>McMaster didn\u2019t call for wholesale changes in the state\u2019s Freedom of Information law as a way to ensure costs  are reasonable, but he did say \u201cmaybe it could be tightened up.\u2019\u2019 He said Environmental Services may have intended the cost as only an estimate, but the agency needed to think about what it was doing before it sent the response to Hill.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4581\">\u2018Ridiculous.\u2019 Governor critical of SC agency plan to charge man $2.4M for records<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>For an agency to send out a $2.4 million estimate to process an open records request, \u2018\u2019somebody \u201cmight have a heart attack,\u2019\u2019 the governor said.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The Department of Environmental Services did not respond to a request for comment. The agency has said it never intended to charge that much, even though an email to Hill indicated otherwise.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>A key problem with the state\u2019s open records law is that agencies are allowed to charge for staff time, most notably the time it takes to redact what they consider to be non-releasable information, said Jay Bender, a lawyer who is an expert on the state\u2019s Freedom of Information Act.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Bender contends that agencies are abusing that allowance by saying it will cost large amounts of money to process requests for information. In fact, he said, agencies don\u2019t have to redact many pieces of information that they say must be kept secret. But they often don\u2019t want to release documents the public has a right to review, fearing it might make them look bad, Bender said. The high costs of obtaining public information can discourage people from seeking it, he has said.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately, too many public bodies take the position that the information is theirs and not the public\u2019s, and it\u2019s an inconvenience and a burden to allow citizens to see public records,\u2019\u2019 Bender said.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>McMaster didn\u2019t go that far, but he said public information should be released without undue obstacles and costs.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>While serving as attorney general, McMaster said he always encouraged agencies to err on the side of releasing information. Bender said McMaster has had a strong record on releasing public information without obstacles.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The governor didn\u2019t say if he had spoken with DES director Myra Reece, a cabinet appointee, about the $2.4 million FOIA response, but he said the agency\u2019s response to Hill left plenty of room for improvement.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4579\">Who is Darline Graham? 5 things to know about SC\u2019s GOP U.S. Senate hopeful<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust a little more common sense would make things work a lot better,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gov. Henry McMaster says South Carolina\u2019s environmental agency should have used common sense before sending out a $2.4 million cost estimate for public records access.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u2018Ridiculous.\u2019 Governor critical of SC agency plan to charge man $2.4M for records - US Moving Experts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4583\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Ridiculous.\u2019 Governor critical of SC agency plan to charge man $2.4M for records - US Moving Experts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gov. Henry McMaster says South Carolina\u2019s environmental agency should have used common sense before sending out a $2.4 million cost estimate for public records access.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4583\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"US Moving Experts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-12T22:06:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=4583#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=4583\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018Ridiculous.\u2019 Governor critical of SC agency plan to charge man $2.4M for records\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-12T22:06:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=4583\"},\"wordCount\":721,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=4583#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/49f1e777d48830a5e3da1bf10e97fb0c.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Environment\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=4583#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=4583\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=4583\",\"name\":\"\u2018Ridiculous.\u2019 Governor critical of SC agency plan to charge man $2.4M for records - US Moving Experts\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=4583#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=4583#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/49f1e777d48830a5e3da1bf10e97fb0c.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-12T22:06:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=4583#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=4583\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=4583#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/49f1e777d48830a5e3da1bf10e97fb0c.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/49f1e777d48830a5e3da1bf10e97fb0c.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=4583#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u2018Ridiculous.\u2019 Governor critical of SC agency plan to charge man $2.4M for records\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"US Moving Experts\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018Ridiculous.\u2019 Governor critical of SC agency plan to charge man $2.4M for records - US Moving Experts","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4583","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018Ridiculous.\u2019 Governor critical of SC agency plan to charge man $2.4M for records - US Moving Experts","og_description":"Gov. Henry McMaster says South Carolina\u2019s environmental agency should have used common sense before sending out a $2.4 million cost estimate for public records access.","og_url":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4583","og_site_name":"US Moving Experts","article_published_time":"2026-08-12T22:06:43+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4583#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4583"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6"},"headline":"\u2018Ridiculous.\u2019 Governor critical of SC agency plan to charge man $2.4M for records","datePublished":"2026-08-12T22:06:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4583"},"wordCount":721,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4583#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/49f1e777d48830a5e3da1bf10e97fb0c.jpg","articleSection":["Environment"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4583#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4583","url":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4583","name":"\u2018Ridiculous.\u2019 Governor critical of SC agency plan to charge man $2.4M for records - US Moving Experts","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4583#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4583#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/49f1e777d48830a5e3da1bf10e97fb0c.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-12T22:06:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4583#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4583"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4583#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/49f1e777d48830a5e3da1bf10e97fb0c.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/49f1e777d48830a5e3da1bf10e97fb0c.jpg","width":1200,"height":675},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4583#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018Ridiculous.\u2019 Governor critical of SC agency plan to charge man $2.4M for records"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/","name":"US Moving Experts","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com"],"url":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}