Buying a new home is a big deal. For many homeowners, it's one of the most important decisions they ever make. When it comes to such a substantial choice, there are a lot of factors to consider, like:
Getting the answers to those questions can be hard but finding a trustworthy manufactured home company can be even more challenging. Sure, you could settle for a fly-by-night company or a shady mobile home dealer. But if you're like most folks, you want to work with a reliable company that has been in business for years. You need a team of professionals who can answer your questions, address your concerns, and sell you a quality home that will keep your family safe and sound.
Welcome to Ken-Co Homes Inc. - your premier choice for mobile home sales in Cheraw, SC. Ken-Co Homes has been Lake City's go-to manufactured home since 1974. With several locations in South Carolina, we're the first choice for manufactured homes in the state. As longtime locals in the community, we pride ourselves on honesty, hard work, and running a manufactured home business that you can count on.
There's no secret sauce that makes Ken-Co Homes successful. We work hard, sell the finest Clayton, Destiny, Scotbilt, Homes, and treat our customers like we would like to be treated. That's why, when you meet our team for your home tour, you'll be treated with respect and greeted with a warm smile. Whether you have questions regarding financing or the fit and finish of a floorplan, we'll maintain that same level of kindness, courtesy, and honesty. That way, you know for sure that you have invested in a top-notch manufactured home that your family will love.
Unlike other manufactured home dealers, we have a full selection of Clayton Homes for sale with attractive floor plans to fit your unique lifestyle. When you choose Ken-Co Homes, you're also choosing:
We offer our valued customers a $500 guarantee that we will meet or beat ANY competitor who has a lower price on one of our homes with the same options. Don't believe us? Contact our office today!
With decades of combined experience, our team has the tools and know-how to make your buying process smooth and stress-free.
Buying a home can be challenging, especially with travel logistics and other factors at play. Our team can help answer any questions you have about buying a home and transporting it to a park or piece of private land.
When you buy from Ken-Co Homes, you're investing in a high-quality product that your family will love for years to come. With more than a dozen home choices, you're sure to find a new home that matches your lifestyle.
We'll work with you one-on-one to ensure you get the home of your dreams. If you have questions or concerns once you move in, give us a call - we're here to help.
We offer detail-oriented, experienced set-up crews that make living life in your new home easy and efficient.
At Ken-Co Homes, we offer flexible financing options to help make buying your dream home a reality.
Whether you're looking for a smaller two-bedroom manufactured home or a large, luxurious four-bedroom manufactured home, our friendly consultants are ready to help you build the home of your dreams.
"Is there a difference between a mobile home and a manufactured home?" is one of the most common questions we get online and in person. Today, many people use mobile home and manufactured home interchangeably. That's understandable because both types of homes share similar features and benefits for homeowners. However, understanding the minor differences can be valuable when searching for a new place to call home.
Unlike site-built homes, manufactured homes are built in a factory. Once completed, they're shipped to a specific location where the homeowner will live. The term "manufactured home" refers to any factory-built home constructed after June 15, 1976. That date is when the HUD or U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development implemented guidelines centered around manufactured home construction.
HUD code requires manufactured homes to be constructed on a base frame with wheels with a minimum of 320 square feet.
Thanks to fast build times and lower material costs, manufactured homes for sale in Cheraw, SC is often more cost-effective for home buyers. Compared to traditional site-built homes, many manufactured homes can be up to 35% less than more traditional houses.
Any mobile homes built after June 15, 1976, are considered manufactured homes today, though many people use the term mobile home casually. In the past, these homes were used to travel and were more like the expensive RVs that people use today than true manufactured homes. Back then, mobile homes received a bad reputation due to poor build quality, but they've come a long way since that time. Today, mobile homes are safe, comfortable, and structurally sound, with many types of amenities and floor plans.
Manufactured homes are more popular in the U.S. than ever, and for good reason: prospective homeowners are looking for affordable, quality alternatives to traditional homes. That's especially true today, with inflation on the rise, necessitating more budget-friendly options for anyone who wants to put a roof over their heads.
If you're used to living in a traditional, site-built home, you may be wondering what the advantages are of buying a manufactured home. Here are just a few of the most common benefits of buying a manufactured home:
When you boil it down to the basics, buying a new home is all about the money. One of the most attractive reasons for buying a manufactured home is that they are often much less expensive than traditional site-built homes. Today, manufactured housing is considered a crucial part of the housing shortage solution and a viable option with inflation rising. According to statistics, the average square-foot cost of a site-built home is $107, while the average price is only $49 in a manufactured home. Whether you're sticking to a strict budget or your finances have changed due to poor economic conditions, going manufactured might be your best choice.
Owning a manufactured home gives the homeowner long-term living options. Because basic manufactured homes are usually very affordable, families with enough land can start with a small home and add additional units as their needs change. Manufactured homes are also great as starter homes, especially for families that plan on building a permanent structure on their land in the future. Though it could be logistically challenging, manufactured homes can also be moved to a different site if the initial one was on rented property.
Manufactured homes have received a bad rap over the last few decades. In reality, most manufactured homes are purpose-built for longevity with structural integrity. Every manufactured home built today is subject to the HUD code adopted in 1976. This code is the only federally-mandated code in existence. It was designed to ensure that manufactured homes meet strict standards regarding fire safety, structural design, energy efficiency, transportation to home sites, and overall construction. All manufactured homes sold in the U.S. have a permanent red seal to confirm they meet HUD standards.
When you buy a manufactured home, you may be able to move in faster than you would via traditional routes. Some manufactured homes are even move-in ready in less than 45 days. Compared to a traditional home, once a new manufactured home is built in the factory, buyers usually find that installation is a quick process. Once the manufactured home is delivered, utility work usually moves quickly, regardless of whether you're moving to a park or transporting your home to a piece of land. Before you know it, you're eating, sleeping, and enjoying life in your new manufactured home.
When asked about the pros and cons, many buyers cite energy efficiency as one of the most significant benefits of owning a manufactured home. In general, manufactured housing is more energy efficient than traditional because HUD mandates ensure that homes have high energy efficiency ratings.
These ratings are achieved through upgraded insulation installation, on-demand water heaters, and energy-efficient windows. These upgrades often make entire manufactured homes Energy Star certified. It's no surprise that manufactured homes are 27% more efficient than they used to be with other additions like energy-saving appliances in kitchens and bathrooms.
If you've ever lived in an apartment complex before, chances are you heard sounds and noises through your walls that you never wanted to hear. If you hate hearing your neighbors and despise thin walls, looking for mobile home sales in Cheraw, SC is a great idea. Why? Manufactured homes are typically built using separate modules, which reduces sound transference from room to room. When two or more modules are combined and insulated separately, buyers enjoy an even quieter, stronger home with less outside noise.
If there's one disappointing aspect of manufactured homes, the stigma seems to surround them. Yes, mobile homes from 30 or more years ago aren't exactly marvels of construction and deserve to be criticized. However, modern manufactured homes are cut from a different cloth and are often every bit as safe and luxurious as site-built homes.
Here are some of the most common (and annoying) mobile home myths debunked:
Modern manufactured homes are factory-built homes crafted with quality materials that meet comprehensive federal construction and safety standards. These standards, called the "HUD Code," outline how the homes must be built, including safety guidelines. For example, manufactured home builders must take strict measures to ensure their homes are resistant to wind. In terms of hurricanes and tornados, having such measures in place can prevent a tragedy from happening.
The bottom line is that manufactured homes are plenty safe and provide a quality product to people who want a lower-cost option over traditional housing.
One of the most repeated myths surrounding manufactured homes is that they are in poor shape and have an overall poor quality. Today, many manufactured homes are built with quality materials and care. It's not unusual to find a manufactured home with luxurious amenities and features lie state-of-the-art kitchens, high-end appliances, and chic open floor plans. At Ken-Co Homes, we can provide you with a complete list of available upgrades and amenities for you to enjoy in your new home.
Perhaps it's due to their popularity and lower prices, but we often hear that it's hard to find manufactured homes for sale. As seasoned home dealers, we can say this is categorically false. Whether you head over to Google and search for "mobile homes near me in Cheraw, SC," or simply head to Ken-Co Homes' website, you'll see plenty of homes to choose from. Contact our office today for a full list of our homes for sale!
When it comes to home prices in today's day and age, manufactured homes are among the most affordable options available.
That's because manufactured homes cost less to construct than site-built homes, with the average price costing $92K for new construction and $60K for a pre-owned manufactured home, according to recent data. The cost of a traditional home is much higher, with an average of $408K, according to Statista data from 2021. Even though manufactured home living costs change depending on the community, they're often much less expensive than their site-built cousins in the long run.
This myth parallels the stereotype that manufactured homes are cheap and poorly built. Unfortunately, many people still believe that living in a manufactured home community isn't safe. They think that the parks are run down and riddled with reprobates. In reality, many manufactured home parks mimic gated communities with 24-hour security and mandated quiet hours. Some manufactured home neighborhoods even offer community-wide amenities like spas and pools. If you're a fan of the gated community lifestyle but don't want to pay hundreds of thousands for a site-built home, a manufactured home community could be your best bet.
Are you giving serious thought to buying a manufactured home for sale in South Carolina? You're not alone - more than 365K people in the Palmetto State live in manufactured homes. At Ken-Co Homes Inc., we're not your average run-of-the-mill manufactured home dealer. We only do business with manufacturing partners committed to building top-quality products that our customers are proud to own.
If you're looking for modern amenities, energy-efficient appliances, unique floorplans, and homes constructed with quality materials, Ken-Co Homes is the company for you. Contact our office today to learn more about our beautiful Clayton homes for sale in Cheraw, SC.
CHERAW — The Peach Cobbler Factory bakery opened to a standing room only crowd on June 23 in downtown Cheraw.The dessert-centric chain was founded in Nashville, Tenn., in 2013 by Tamira and Juan Edgerton. It is a family-style dessert shop featuring old-fashioned cobbler with ice cream, cookies, cinnamon rolls, banana pudding and pudd-n shakes.Drinks include coffee, sweet peachy tea, Coke products and milk. It also offers catering and party packs.The restaurant and its franchisees have stores in 19 states, including...
CHERAW — The Peach Cobbler Factory bakery opened to a standing room only crowd on June 23 in downtown Cheraw.
The dessert-centric chain was founded in Nashville, Tenn., in 2013 by Tamira and Juan Edgerton. It is a family-style dessert shop featuring old-fashioned cobbler with ice cream, cookies, cinnamon rolls, banana pudding and pudd-n shakes.
Drinks include coffee, sweet peachy tea, Coke products and milk. It also offers catering and party packs.
The restaurant and its franchisees have stores in 19 states, including South and North Carolina.
The Cheraw Peach Cobbler Factory, 156 Market St., is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to midnight, Friday and Saturday.
A Peach Cobbler Factory will open soon at the Freedom Square Shopping Center on South Irby Street in Florence.
FLORENCE — The Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce needs local chefs and area company cookers to register to compete in the Ninth Annual Chicken Wing and Chili Festival on Oct. 20.
The festival will be held in the 100 block of South Dargan Street in historic downtown Florence, Chamber President Mike Miller said. It will be held from 5 to 9 p.m.
If you’re interested in competing in the event, contact the Florence Chamber at 843-665-0515.
The chamber supplies all the wings needed for those cooking wings. However, the chili cooks will need to supply their own ingredients. A minimum of seven gallons of chili is required from each entrant. Wing cookers are expected to make between 80 to 120 pounds of wings during the event.
The festival also will feature a few other food vendors, a wide variety of beverages and music from a band. The band will be announced soon.
Florence 1 School District adding armed security officers at all 13 elementaries
Miller said the festival will be one of the larger downtown events. It usually draws more than 2,700 people. More than 1,750 pounds of chicken wings and approximately 140 gallons of chili were sold last year.
While inflation has been challenging, Miller said the Chamber is committed to offering an affordable event to the public. Food and beverage ticket prices are expected to be the same as last year.
Proceeds go to the Pee Dee Visions Foundation to support local educational initiative and key leadership initiatives.
Earlier in June, the Chamber of Commerce recognized incoming and departing board members at its annual Board Appreciation Luncheon at Victors in downtown Florence.
Outgoing board members honored were Diana Murphy Eaddy, Diversity Works Magazine; Kristy Fowler, Raines Co.; Robby Hill, HillSouth; Jim Ivey, Dedicated Community Bank; Chad Patterson, Raldex Hospitality and Christina O’Malley, MUSC.
New board members include Kirby Anderson, Raldex Hospitality, Lethonia Barnes, city of Florence; Amber Fort, Raines Co.; David Fountain, The UPS Stores, Jay Hinesley, MUSC Health Florence Medical Center; Dr. Brian Sang, Palmetto Smiles; Amber Sellers, Wells Fargo and Linward Edwards II, law office of Linward Edwards.
Miller presented Paul Seward with the Chairman’s service plaque for his work during the 2022-23 term Seward has served as chairman of the Florence Chamber on two different occasions.
CHERAW, S.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – The sounds of any small town often pass by without anyone noticing.Cheraw newspaper shop keeping modern-day print alive‘I’m just happy here’: A lesson from Cheraw’s Mr...
CHERAW, S.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – The sounds of any small town often pass by without anyone noticing.
Cheraw newspaper shop keeping modern-day print alive
‘I’m just happy here’: A lesson from Cheraw’s Mr. King
But in Cheraw, South Carolina, there’s a different sound, a one-of-a-kind soundtrack.
“Dizzy Gillespie,” laughed Thomas Finigan.
“Dizzy Gillespie,” said Chris Esaw.
From the Dizzy Gillespie statue in the center of town to the riser in the band classroom at Cheraw High School, Dizzy is celebrated all over.
“One of the things I always liked is in his concerts, or in a piece of music, (he’d say) ‘Hi, I’m Dizzy Gillespie, and I’m from Cheraw, South Carolina,'” said Thomas, who’s the band director at the high school. “He always mentioned he was from Cheraw.”
Cheraw’s high school band has been around for decades. Senior Chris Esaw plays a few instruments, but the trumpet is their favorite.
“At first, I was going to choose the flute, but I couldn’t get a sound out on the flute, so trumpet was my second option,” laughed Chris. “When you first play, it’s kind of difficult.”
While they have their official high school band for all the games and events, they’re starting something new.
“The last recorded time that I saw on the state’s website was 1999,” said Thomas.
For the first time in 23 years, the high school now has a jazz band. It’s a tradition Thomas was happy to bring back.
“Music is a feeling, so I can hear any piece of music, and it can take me back to a time or a place,” said Thomas.
Get breaking news alerts with the Queen City News mobile app. It’s FREE! Download for iOS or Android
All around the world, Dizzy Gillespie was known as the ‘King of Jazz.’ But in Cheraw, he’s also known as a hometown hero who never forgot where he came from.
SALISBURY — Salisbury’s reputation for historic preservation efforts earned it a visit from a South Carolina mayor on Monday.Cheraw Mayor Andy Ingram joined several Salisbury residents for a tour of the Hall House Museum, which is located on Jackson Street in the city’s historic district.“(Salisbury) has a gorgeous historic district,” Ingram said. I was impressed with all the homes in the district and how well maintained they are.”Ingram indicated a desire to direct r...
SALISBURY — Salisbury’s reputation for historic preservation efforts earned it a visit from a South Carolina mayor on Monday.
Cheraw Mayor Andy Ingram joined several Salisbury residents for a tour of the Hall House Museum, which is located on Jackson Street in the city’s historic district.
“(Salisbury) has a gorgeous historic district,” Ingram said. I was impressed with all the homes in the district and how well maintained they are.”
Ingram indicated a desire to direct resources in his town toward historic preservation, much like Salisbury has.
“We have a lot of antebellum homes similar to Salisbury,” Ingram said. “The Hall House reminds me of the home that is next door to my home called the Lafayette House, which was built (circa 1815). We have many homes that are very characteristic of what I saw in Salisbury.”
After touring the Hall House, Ingram sat down with Salisbury Mayor Karen Alexander for lunch at The Palms Grill.
Alexander indicated she was eager to host a mayor from out of state and share ideas about historic preservation.
“I think the emphasis 30-plus years ago to save our historic fabric was a great decision,” Alexander said. “It allowed us to become a leader nationally. We are looked at from a national basis of doing it well.”
The conversation veered into similarities between the two cities regarding growth and development.
“We talked about managing growth and how even the idea of growing is exciting, but at the same time, it is challenging to do it well,” Alexander said.
Ingram added, “It was interesting to trade ideas and compare Salisbury’s local government to Cheraw’s local government. We have some of the same issues that Salisbury deals with, like infrastructure and annexation. We don’t experience the growing pains that Salisbury might, but we are very involved in downtown revitalization and preserving the businesses there.”
Ingram indicated that Cheraw utilizes tax incentives and enterprise zones to attract investors to its downtown, pointing to the SpringHill Suites hotel as one example.
“We were introduced to a developer from Wilmington,” Ingram said. “We made it happen … to convince them, we had to get the business, healthcare, and industry community together at one table to meet with his group to let them know that if he built it, we would come.”
Ingram identified a viable nightlife as a passageway to downtown revitalization and sees parallels with how Salisbury has reimagined itself.
“We invite the nightlife,” Ingram said. “Let them do a crawl. We are trying to have a lot of our events to bring people to the downtown area.”
According to Alexander, much of Salisbury’s work with curating a historic district that blends with its downtown revitalization efforts stems from an amicable relationship with Raleigh.
“We talked about how we work with our legislators at the state level because they provide the laws that allow us and the tax credits,” Alexander said. “Recently, our legislators in N.C. voted to make our historic tax credits permanent.”
Alexander encouraged Ingram to pursue similar communication with his counterparts in Columbia, South Carolina, while stressing a need to keep those efforts in-house when possible.
“(Ingram) is going to go back and work and advocate in South Carolina,” Alexander said. “We talked about the advocacy of keeping control at the local level and how even though we are in different states, we both face that, always trying to protect our ability to make decisions that affect our local community here at home because we are the closest to the people.”
The mayor said she would welcome more out-of-town local leaders to visit Salisbury, noting that diversity of ideas is healthy to guide progress and projects moving forward.
CHERAW, S.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – Local news has significant local impacts.Regarding newspapers, from 2019 to 2022, 360 small-town newspapers closed up shop.This often means underserved areas are left without a voice, and officials are not held accountable.In the early 2000s, the same story started to play out in Cheraw, South Carolina, until some local people ste...
CHERAW, S.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – Local news has significant local impacts.
Regarding newspapers, from 2019 to 2022, 360 small-town newspapers closed up shop.
This often means underserved areas are left without a voice, and officials are not held accountable.
In the early 2000s, the same story started to play out in Cheraw, South Carolina, until some local people stepped up.
‘King of Jazz’: Cheraw’s musical hometown hero
‘I’m just happy here’: A lesson from Cheraw’s Mr. King
It’s a blur from start to finish, but the words perfectly fit into columns, and the pages are folded with precision. Just outside of Cheraw, the modern-day printing press is already rolling. The room smells of paper and ink, and the machine is so loud many wear earplugs.
“A lot of communities are losing their local paper,” said Jane Pigg.
Jane proudly describes herself as a journalist, going back to the fourth grade when she made her radio debut.
“I found out I can talk faster than I can type, so I believe I’ll do broadcast,” laughed Jane.
Cheraw had a hometown paper for many years until everything slowed down in the early 2000s, and the paper was sold.
“They got rid of people who had been with them, 20 years, 30 years, a long time,” remembered Jane.
It’s a crisis across the country, but this story in Cheraw doesn’t have the typical ending.
Because… there’s Jane.
And Joan Yates.
“The residents of the county are creating the history of the county, but we are preserving it,” said Joan.
The two of them, along with the journalists let go, got together one day and decided it was up to them to form a newspaper.
Get breaking news alerts with the Queen City News mobile app. It’s FREE! Download for iOS or Android
The paper was printed within a month or so of that meeting, and a new newspaper started in town.
“The stories that we tell are your stories,” said Joan, the paper’s editor.
“Because there’s information in a local community newspaper that you will not find anywhere else,” said Jane, who owns the paper and the radio station in Cheraw.
The stories are printed weekly on a paper with a name that does exactly what a paper is meant to do.
“People say, oh, I can never remember the name of the newspaper. We just say, ‘it’s the link!'” laughed Joan.
“The link, It’s like a link,” Jane said, smiling. “You’re all linked up, and the newspaper brings everything together.”
Some may call it old school, but the columns are full of a sense of home for the writers and the people they write about.
‘The Link‘ is celebrating 15 years in business this year.
The StateAfter years of operating quietly in a small Pee Dee community, an industrial plant that employs hundreds of people is being accused by neighbors of polluting their land and making them sick.One of those neighbors, Janet Tillman of Cheraw, filed a lawsuit last week against Highland Industries for what she says is a failure to stop pollution that dates as far back as 1970. The suit, which says the Cheraw plant released cancer-causing PCBs, seeks compensation for Tillman and class action status, meaning hun...
The State
After years of operating quietly in a small Pee Dee community, an industrial plant that employs hundreds of people is being accused by neighbors of polluting their land and making them sick.
One of those neighbors, Janet Tillman of Cheraw, filed a lawsuit last week against Highland Industries for what she says is a failure to stop pollution that dates as far back as 1970. The suit, which says the Cheraw plant released cancer-causing PCBs, seeks compensation for Tillman and class action status, meaning hundreds of neighbors also could be compensated if the suit is successful.
Duke Energy also was mentioned in the lawsuit and likely will be listed as a defendant at a later date, a spokeswoman for the Harrell law firm of Charleston said Friday. In the past, Duke washed equipment coated with PCBs in a field across the street from the Highland plant, said the firm’s Shelia Arroyo.
A Duke spokesman said the company didn’t know why it was mentioned in the suit, and Highland had no immediate comment Friday. The lawsuit is the second filed in court in Chesterfield County against Highland since Hurricane Florence focused attention last September on industrial pollution from the site. A creek basin below the plant has been declared a federal Superfund cleanup site because of historic contamination from the Highland property.
When the hurricane blew through, it washed toxins from the Superfund area into four houses and five other yards, sparking emergency cleanup work and focusing attention on Highland.
“In September of 2018, a serious storm caused severe flooding and further movement of the contaminants from the defendant’s site onto and into the properties of (Highland’s) neighbors,’’ the suit says, noting that the manufacturing plant released the pollution through “neglect and failures.’’
But the suit isn’t just about Hurricane Florence’s aftermath. It says the plant had been polluting the area for parts of 49 years.
The state lawsuit says Highland Industries knew or should have known that the site was “seriously contaminated’’ and toxins were leaving its property when it purchased the site in 1988 from Burlington Industries. But Highland never did anything to stop the poisonous mess that today is lowering property values and affecting people’s health, the suit says.
“The migration of hazardous and toxic constituents .... is continuing, causing loss of property value, property damage and .... painful severe injuries and illnesses,’’ the suit said.
The State reported on the legacy of pollution problems after Hurricane Florence zapped the area last fall. Among other things, the newspaper found that state regulators had known as far back as 1970 about the discharge of a greenish waste into a ditch from the industrial plant. But many people didn’t learn about the pollution until the state Department of Health and Environmental Control began investigating about four years ago. The EPA later declared a 3.2 mile area below the Highland plant, including a former city park, as a Superfund site.
Highland has denied liability but has done some cleanup work since the hurricane. Some of Cheraw’s leaders have spoken favorably of Highland, which they say has been a good neighbor through the years. The textile manufacturing plant, which opened in 1961, employs several hundred people. It has made a variety of fabrics through the years, including Kevlar for bulletproof vests.
Cheraw, a town of about 6,000, is near the North Carolina border in South Carolina’s Pee Dee region, a mostly rural area east of Columbia. The EPA says it has cleaned up the worst of the contamination, but has a long-term plan to clean up other parts of the area that it says were not as badly contaminated.
Tillman, a neighbor of the factory, says she and her family are examples of how pollution affected their property and their health. PCBs, products once used widely by industry, can cause liver cancer and skin irritation to people exposed to large amounts of the material over time. PCBs once were used as coolants and lubricants in transformers and other electrical equipment, according to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
Tillman’s sons say they played as children in the drainage ditch that flowed from the Highland site. One of them, Domonic Tillman of Texas, said he suspects an acne-like rash that plagues him today is related to pollution that washed down the creek. Another son, Jerod Harris of Columbia, said he also is having health problems that are not common to his family.
“There’s no telling what’s down the line with our health,’’ said Janet Tillman, who said she’s lived below the plant for 29 years and only learned of the pollution about three years ago. “Who can tell later on?’’
In her lawsuit, Tillman asks a court to not only grant class action status, but to force further cleanup of the area by Highland Industries of “all contaminants from its plant site, the affected drainage ditch/creek and from (Tillman’s) property.’’ If the company doesn’t do that, the court should order it to be shut down, the suit says.
One neighbor who lives across the ditch from Tillman said he plans to join the lawsuit.
Melvin Wilkerson, whose home also is next to an old sludge disposal area the plant used, said he has suffered thyroid cancer and skin rashes that he suspects are tied to the industrial pollution. He wants the vacant sludge disposal site cleaned up.
“The lot next to us on our right side, facing our front door, has not been cleaned up,’’ said Wilkerson, a retired school teacher. “If there is no resident or occupant on the land, it is not cleaned up.’’