Model B · every distinct person on record, latest stance · sponsor excluded · MGW.reference.ballast-speaker-dossier.072026.v1 (content = 071926.v2) · regenerated live from mrx_bethune 7/20/26
Adam Smith
Third-generation cattle farm ~2 mi from site; born, raised, lives in Bethune · spoke 7/14 hearing
"Growth unchecked has a name: cancer" (rebutting Shoemake's grow-or-die). Gateway fear: housing, solar farms, data center. Cited drought — 3 municipalities incl. Bethune under water restrictions.
Amy McCaskill
Family on Timrod Rd; 87-year-old uncle under 1 mi from site, never notified · spoke 7/14 hearing
Read the Coastal Conservation League letter in full: COBRA $1.5–3.3M, no IRP inclusion, 700-acre buffer excess, groundwater unknowns.
Austin Thomas Rykbost
Bethune resident · spoke 7/14 public comment
EPA-sourced soil-acidification and aquatic-ecosystem chains. "A lot of residents moved here because we did not want to be around industrial growth."
Carla Rykbost
Family lives in Bethune · petition starter · spoke 7/14 public comment
Registered nurse and mother; started and administers the Change.org petition (508 signatures cited live). Son, 5 months, was in NICU for respiratory distress. Applied the dictionary "bribe" definition to the Good Neighbor Agreement.
Danny CatoeCOUNCIL — VOTED NO
Northern Kershaw roots, generations (mills)
~1000 constituent contacts in 3 weeks. Explicitly NOT opposed to the plant — opposed to the LOCATION: half-mile setback inadequate (walking-track analogy). Skeptical of both sides' numbers.
Denise Gainey Rollings
Family land held 100+ years, Timrod Rd, under 2 mi from site · spoke 6/23 and 7/14
Spoke for James & Sue Ganey, Dale & Pam Ganey, Robbie Rollins, herself. Private well for all drinking water; organic elderberry operation; "backyard is our sanctuary." Reclaimed NIMBY after Googling it.
Emily Poole
Staff attorney, SC Environmental Law Project — professional capacity · spoke 7/14 hearing
FILOT math $14M vs $2M/yr over 40-yr term (>85% revenue loss); statutory cost-benefit requirement; EJ percentiles 89/74/92/71; Valera 50→450MW precedent.
Gina Korn Knight
Bethune ("most of you do not live in Bethune with us") · spoke 7/14 public comment
Grandmother, grandson present. Harvard Chan 2021 citation (cardio/respiratory, stroke, asthma, premature mortality); PM2.5 travels hundreds of miles; common-law no-harm rule.
Jacob Brian Kardack
FB thread · asserted
Doubts the 15-job benefit justifies the project.
Jim Curley
Timrod Road, 22 years · spoke 6/23 and 7/14 hearing
Teaches physics/astronomy (Winthrop, York Tech). Introduced Harvard 2025 (2M+ affected) and EPA fall-2025 citations; distributed comparative plant reports; COBRA tool; "either everybody counts or nobody counts." Wife Lori also spoke.
Jimmy JonesCOUNCIL — VOTED NO
20 years on council; Kershaw roots; retiring
"People before money." GNA = money to shut people up; "Trojan horse for a data center" as settled belief; 15-jobs-vs-$900M mismatch; read son Taylor's letter (Washington Cty PA ~4.4% home-value drop).
Kailey Griggs
FB thread · verified organizer
Actively organizing meeting turnout.
Karen Gainey
Timrod Road, 45+ years; family well ~1 mi from site · spoke 6/23
Delivered the most exhaustive due-diligence question list of any speaker: EIS, alternatives, cumulative impacts, emissions inventory + public monitoring, health assessment 1–5 mi. Tucker requested written copy. (Open ID flag: captions say "Pam Gainey.")
Kitty King
FB thread · asserted
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Linda Kanetzer
Does NOT live near Bethune — "but I do stand with the people of Bethune" · spoke 7/14 hearing
Solidarity speaker. BR Energy Advisory Group 3-employees-same-name-and-address claim; why compensate if no risk; council accountability.
Lori Curley
Timrod Road — plant under 1/4 mi away, 700 ft from her neighbor · spoke 7/14 public comment
Raising biological, foster, and adopted children; planned to bring retired parents. "It's going to be in my backyard." Husband Jim also spoke.
Lynn Conto
Worked at old Bethune Elementary near the site; ~30 years community involvement · spoke twice 7/14
Children's-health chain; danger-zone bands; wind seasons; 28k gal/MW water figure. All 3 hospitals 23 mi from Bethune. Also opposed Terra Nexus at Park Road.
Paul Black
Kershaw resident 3.5 years + landowner; senior campaign organizer, Sierra Club · spoke 7/14 hearing
Sacrifice-zone framing; plant not in Dominion/Duke/Santee IRP plans; GNA five-figure criticism.
Robbie Brown
Distance not stated · spoke 7/14 public comment
Disabled veteran — disability from airborne particulate exposure (burn pits). Future health liability, who pays; data-center suspicion; hydro alternative.
Russell BrazellCOUNCIL — VOTED NO
Participated remotely by phone 7/14
Asked where the power goes, whether rates drop, what citizens actually get — no utility rep in room to answer. Pressed attorney on whether a data center is conclusively excluded.
Ruth Parkins
Bethune/Timrod area — moved here for openness, beauty, wildlife · spoke 7/14 public comment
EPA-vs-profit believability framing; Lee County wells; ag-to-heavy-industry character change; 800-vs-100-acre suspicion.
Samantha Melamed
From Aiken SC — drove 1.5 hours; no Kershaw residence · spoke 7/14 hearing
Co-founder PACE Aiken; 6th-generation farmer; PhD geneticist, 30 years lung-cancer research (personal capacity). Fought off a gas plant on her own property.
Sarah Williams
Distance not stated · spoke 7/14 hearing
Pollution litany "all for just 15 jobs"; GNA terms detailed ($10K/yr × 20 yrs + pre-written support letters); "buying the support this project cannot earn."
Shelly King
~2026 Bethune Rd; family land on Lynch's River since the 1700s · spoke 7/14 public comment
Father was timber caretaker who planted pines across the Carolinas; she and 2 brothers are caretakers. Nephew's family signed a contract on Timrod.
Tom Webb III
Distance not stated · spoke twice 7/14
Lawyer friend called GNA payments "organized crime"; pits neighbor against neighbor. "Foot in the door... eventually a data center"; company "sneaky" about ~800 acres.
Tommy Gainey
3335 Timrod Road — facility ~1,800 ft behind his property · spoke 6/23
THE source of the "1800 feet" claim circulating in FB threads. Lived there all their lives; would never move. Trees will not fix the noise; property value will drop; construction jobs ~2 years then gone.
Vance Stover
FB thread · asserted
Data-center suspicion + process distrust.
Zakiya Mickle
Environmental & Climate Justice Chair, SC NAACP State Conference — not a stated local resident · spoke 7/14
Return appearance (also Park Road 2025). Methane plant likely powers a data center; 1–60 mi downwind; 15 jobs insufficient.
Ben ConnellCOUNCIL CHAIR — VOTED YES
Lives within ~1 mi of landfill, sewer plant, and chemical plant — his own statement
Ran the 6-month runway process, Dec 2025 plant visit. Corn water comparison; stove PM2.5 40–60x; FILOT-to-Bethune grant-match vision. On record: any data center comes back to planning commission and council.
Bill White
FB thread · asserted
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Brant TomlinsonCOUNCIL — VOTED YES
Grew up on 4th-generation family farm (NY)
Visited Dominion Columbia Energy Center in Gaston — high-density development 1/4 mi away, zero complaints per plant. Put the solar-FILOT-on-this-property history on record 6/23.
Chris Tedder
FB thread · asserted
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Crystal Deese
FB thread · asserted
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Daniel Craig
Lives about a mile from the site · spoke 7/14 public comment
Pro despite proximity: "Bethune is dead"; construction-job spending at gas stations and the one restaurant; future-generations power need.
Derek ShoemakeCOUNCIL — VOTED YES
Lives near a sewer plant, chemical plant, and landfill (Elgin) — "I've accepted this in my backyard"
Made the motion. Framing: FILOT for an already-zoned heavy-industrial use, no rezoning sought. Grow-or-lose-population; culture-of-no warning.
Diane Lynn
FB thread · asserted
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Donnie Catoe
Citizen — distinct from Councilman Danny Catoe · spoke 7/14 public comment
Gas-stove/vehicle-exhaust particulate equivalence, self-described Google research. Attended two meetings the prior week.
Michael A Tidwell
FB thread · asserted
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Russell Horton
Optioning family land AT the site · spoke 7/14 public comment
Land in family almost a century; multi-month deliberation with father before optioning.
Sammie Tucker, Jr.COUNCIL — VOTED YES
8th generation Kershaw County
Alabama precedent (plant sold to utility, never a data center); "land has to come before this body" if a data center comes; urged Rep. Mitchell toward STATE data-center siting law. NAACP channel via Rev. Mingo.
Timothy Dean Cook
FB thread · asserted
"Build it" bloc.
Tony Raguso
FB thread · asserted
Egg-plant (900k hens) comparison.
Clyde Parkman
FB thread · asserted
Cynical of corporate promises generally.
Cody MitchellSC HOUSE
Represents northern Kershaw County in SC House · spoke 7/14 hearing
Learned of project via Facebook like constituents; "uncertainty develops conspiracy"; stands with constituents, asked council to pause; noted PSC and environmental review still ahead. Tucker urged him toward state siting law.
Elaine Moriarty
FB thread · asserted
Concerned re: future data-center use of remaining acreage.
Gracie Kane
Lives on Holton Farms (Prestage-owned), "very near" the proposed site · spoke 7/14 hearing
24, married 2 months, 3-year resident by choice; accounting manager at Prestage Farms; MBA. Emailed BR VP directly with hard questions, offered emails to council. Pro-dialogue civility voice.
John B. Burns
Distance not stated · spoke 7/14 public comment
Retired chemical-industry professional: site characterization for a transuranic nuclear waste repository; negotiated oil/gas leases on 30,000 acres. Neutral-probing technical questioner.
Ken Morse
FB thread · asserted
Distrust of process, not necessarily opposed to the plant itself.
Mike Bower
FB thread · asserted
Distrust of gas-company motives.
Traci Blocker Rogers
FB thread · asserted
Suspects data-center follow-on.
Vicky Craig
Bethune ~30 years · spoke 7/14 public comment
Nurse practitioner, owner of community health practice, 20+ years local healthcare. Own research: no water contamination expected; solar has its own harms; gas cleaner than other fossil fuels.