One-On-One With Silfab Leader: “Highly Unlikely This Project Will Stop”

FORT MILL, S.C. – Silfab is a solar manufacturing company. It has a facility in Canada and one in Washington state. Silfab has said it is well received by those communities. WCCB News @ Ten anchor Morgan Fogarty asked Silfab Director of Operations Greg Basden, “Why do you think it has been such a different story here?” Basden said, “There was a lot of activity that took place behind the scenes with economic development as we were planning. And then, once the community found out that it was Silfab, there were things that were already set in motion. And I think that disturbed a lot of people in the community.”

Secondly, the permitting process is public record. Basden says, “And then when certain people in the community, they saw some of the materials that we’re using. And then you start on the internet, you start digging deeper and deeper. You can misconstrue and draw your own conclusions. And that rubbed some people the wrong way. In their minds, it didn’t fit in this community.”

The Fort Mill location would be the only facility in Silfab that converts silicone wafers into a solar panel cell. There are two materials used to do that. One is silane gas. Basden says, “The systems in place to manage it, to transport it (are) highly, highly designed, extremely robust.”

The other material is hydrofluoric acid. Basden says, “It comes in, it’s less than 50% concentrated when it’s when as transported. And then in our process, we dilute it significantly with water. So, it’s definitely not a problem.”

With protests last week, and what could be a heated town hall Tuesday, it seems the people who don’t want Silfab here show no signs of slowing. Fogarty asked Basden, “Is there a chance that they are going to be able to stop Silfab?” He replied, “Based off of feedback that we get internally and from our attorneys, it’s highly unlikely that that our endeavor, this project, will stop.”

Silfab representatives will not be at Tuesday’s town hall. State agency reps will be there, including from the SC Department of Transportation and the Department of Environmental Services.