GREENVILLE, S.C. (WSPA) – Greenville County residents said they’re concerned after hundreds of important documents were allegedly dumped in an unsecured area behind County Square as contractors prepared to demolish the old building.
It’s important documents like those pictured below that residents told 7NEWS they’re concerned could potentially leak confidential information.
Many of the files contained personal information. Some of them were found blowing around the parking lot and nestled along the fence behind County Square.
“If those documents got in the wrong hands, people could commit identity fraud with their social security, birthday information and all of their personal information like their home address,” a Greenville County resident told 7NEWS Thursday afternoon.
The man who found all of those records said he did not want to be identified, but he did show 7NEWS photos of what he discovered: tax records, social security information, and even old ballots cast in previous elections.
Some of those documents were still scattered around the property on University Ridge, Thursday morning.
“That’s not secure, in my opinion,” the resident said.
The resident said those files did not pile up overnight.
“They’ve been there for probably about three weeks now. They’ve been just sitting there. I thought it was just trash and then one day I just did a U-turn over there and I just found a whole pile of it,” the resident said.
7NEWS reached out to Greenville County leaders and it turns out they were unaware of what exactly laid scattered and unsecured just steps away from their new building.
“As soon as we learned that those documents were out there, we acted on them,” said Walter Atkins, Greenville County Facilities Manager.
Atkins said crews got right to work and picked up hundreds of loose files as soon as it was brought to their attention.
“We went out early this morning picking up any documents and making sure that it was secure and safe; that the public has no insecurities about their information,” said Atkins.
According to the county, the documents were originally moved by a contractor in preparation for construction.
“The contractor there that was prepping for the abatement, for the demo, mistakenly had taken some of the documents and took them outside,” said Atkins. “I think it’s just a misunderstanding of what was taken out of the facility at the time and we’ve got that straightened out.”
It’s a misunderstanding that Greenville County residents said they’re relieved is being taken care of. However, they said it’s an issue that shouldn’t have happened in the first place.
“It’s just a scratch on the head because they should have destroyed those a long time ago, not as of right now after someone speaks up,” a resident said.
Greenville County leaders were still working to clean up the loose files on Thursday. They said they are in the process of properly disposing all of the documents.
It’s still unclear why the documents were left inside the old building when the abatement process began. 7NEWS reached out to several county representatives for an answer. We have not yet heard back.
UPDATE:
After this story was reported Steve Shaw, who represents Greenville County’s 20th District sent a letter to County Administrator Joe Kernell and council Chairman Dan Tripp demanding an investigation into the documents being left outside the building.
Shaw also called on the county to establish a citizens’ advocate to assist anyone who becomes a victim of identity theft or financial crimes as a result of someone finding their personal data through the documents left outside.
You can read Shaw’s letter below.
LETTER-RE-Document-Dump-3-21-24Download