Batesburg-Leesville Town Council is considering a new mandate that would change the way restaurants handle grease within town limits. 

The Fats, Oils and Grease ordinance was proposed more than a year ago but hasn’t been taken to council because of conflicting priorities and delays in the town of about 5,000 that straddles the counties of Lexington and Saluda. 

“We've had some other projects take priority,” said Ted Luckadoo, Batesburg-Leesville’s town manager. “But it's just something we intend to get started back on here soon.”

One of the projects taking priority is a $45 million project to make various upgrades to the town's sewage system. The implementation of the new system has council members advocating now more than ever to adopt the ordinance. 

There are state mandates that regulate how oils are disposed of by businesses to protect the environment, but it’s left up to municipalities to regulate what happens when greasy dishes are being washed. 

Batesburg-Leesville is the only town in Lexington County that doesn’t have measures regulating the practice in place.

The ordinance will apply to all businesses in town, but it seems as if small businesses will be the most impacted.

“Most of the newer commercial restaurants have put underground grease receptacles in place or they have grease interceptors in place that get those pumped out,” Luckadoo said. “It's a lot of your smaller restaurants, more mom and pops and locally-owned restaurants. Some of them may not have anything in place to capture the grease that's going down the drain.”

Another delay the ordinance has faced is a lack of communication between the town and businesses. Nearly 50 restaurants were notified by mail of the program's proposal, but the town only received seven responses.

The survey was meant to help the town gather information about the effects the ordinance would have on businesses. Council had hoped to learn who would be affected and how much would it cost businesses, Luckadoo told the Chronicle.

“That's the type of stuff that the survey was intended to get,” Luckadoo said. “But unfortunately, the low response rate created a situation where we're gonna have to physically go to these locations to speak with them.”

It’s uncertain when the town plans to reach out to businesses again. 

Luckadoo said he expects the cost to install grease traps to range from $100 to $1,000 based on what restaurants already have in place.

The town plans to moderate compliance by doing periodical checks with restaurants to determine how they’re maintaining grease traps.  

“What we're trying to do is not anything that's going to be overbearing on the business owners, but it's putting something into place to reduce the amount of fat, oils, and greases that are being introduced into our sewer system,” said Luckadoo.

Christen McConnaughhay, owner of The Spud Stop, told the Chronicle she wasn’t aware of the pending ordinance until the paper reached out. 

“We've been open for over a year and a half, and I had heard nothing about it,” said McConnaughhay. “I haven't received a letter at all.”

The Spud Stop disposes of its greases using Dar Pro Solutions, a company that recycles cooking oil. But after dumping oils in the approved container, dishes are still washed in sinks with no grease traps. Oils are then flushed into the sewer system where it breaks down piping and causes blockages.  

Luckadoo expects that most businesses have grease traps already installed, but without the ordinance, there is never a guarantee that everyone has them.