This scheme would have allowed the sale of scarce space the state will need to store its own nuclear waste when seven nuclear power reactors are decommissioned beginning around 2040. And the space would have been sold for bargain-basement rates -- $60 a cubic foot for space commonly valued at more than $500 a cubic foot.

House members who approved the plan apparently were more interested in quick money to reduce the budget deficit than in striking a fair bargain or, more importantly, protecting the state from once again becoming the nuclear dumping ground for the nation. This deal could have unraveled years of hard work by the Atlantic Low-level Radioactive Waste Compact Commission to preserve waste storage capacity for South Carolina's future needs.

With passage of the Atlantic Compact Act in 2000, the state formed a compact with Connecticut and New Jersey that excluded all other states from depositing waste at the Barnwell site. The landfill space allotted to Connecticut and New Jersey was limited to 800,000 cubic feet combined so that South Carolina would have enough space to meet its future needs.

By selling space to Chem-Nuclear, the state would have invited other states to resume shipping their waste to South Carolina. Worse, by agreeing to sell storage capacity so cheaply, the state would have encouraged other customers to demand lower prices for their landfill space. The state might have lost $3 million in disposal revenues next year as a result.

This was a lousy deal all around. But we hope lawmakers would continue to resist the temptation to sell landfill space even if they are offered a more fair price.

Until the formation of the Atlantic Compact, South Carolina was legally obliged to accept low-level nuclear waste from across the nation. At the time the compact was formed, the Barnwell site was 90 percent full and, at the existing rate of disposal, was projected to reach capacity between 2010 and 2015, leaving no space for the state to use for its own needs.

Reversing the accomplishments of the Atlantic Compact Act to help meet short-term financial needs would be disastrous for the state. If South Carolina again becomes a nuclear waste dumping ground for the rest of the nation, other states would have no incentive to establish new disposal sites elsewhere.

We're relieved that the Senate killed this ill-conceived plan. We hope the General Assembly now will abide by the terms of the Atlantic Compact Act and protect landfill space for the state's own vital needs.

Legislature needs to protect landfill capacity for the state's own vital needs.