YORK COUNTY, S.C. — Bill White and his wife Alice spend a lot of time with nature.
"It's our quiet time and our piece of heaven," he said.
White says the greenery unlocks a portal to their inner peace, and sometimes small memories that cover large parts of their hearts.
"One time when my dad and I caught a big turtle," he reflected
But the White family believes this green area could also soon be a memory as Duke Energy prepares to spray the Fort Mill area with herbicides to keep vegetation away from powerlines.
"The trees and vegetation -- they're part of the natural beauty of this state," said Logan Stewart with the utility. "But right in the Carolinas they're also a leading cause of power outages."
White said neighbors have, for years, seen the trees physically cut down to prevent outages. Now they're concerned about the impacts of an unknown chemical. Chiefly, neighbors are worried about dead trees and how the herbicides could impact their quality of life.
"It's going to look like wintertime in the middle of July," said Bill White.
"Plants would die and I know there are a lot of animals that come and eat here," added Alice White.
Duke Energy said the herbicides are the easiest option because the land hasn't been touched in nearly five years. Stewart said the chemicals are safe.
"About 92% of what we're spraying is water-based," she said, "and we're going to leave a 25 to a 50-foot buffer from the pond."
Neighbors are still concerned with the remaining percentage of chemicals saying it could affect animals swimming in the water and fish caught in the pond.
"I don’t know, I'd be hesitant to eat it," said Bill White.
Duke Energy said the area will look like a beautiful prairie once spraying is complete. White said he believes that the same look can still be achieved without herbicides.
"There is no reason to spray a chemical," he said.
Duke Energy said they don’t want to frighten people and want neighbors to learn more about their application methods.
Contact Tradesha Woodard at twoodard1@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.