I read with amusement the strident Sept. 23 editorial regarding the state Department of Health and Environmental Control's failure to renew 503 permits, which are mostly for water and air pollution control.

The cause for this is probably lack of sufficient personnel to handle the load.

Whence does the paper and the public think the money for DHEC's operations comes? It comes from the same place that funds public health and safety, education (elementary and college) police and firefighters, libraries, civil defense, emergency management, and roads and bridges. There's no sense in attempting to list all the departments of local, state and national governments.

Make up your minds. If you want protection for water and air from companies that pollute, and you want to feel safe from crime and grime, then we must pay for that and not try to kill the very entities that protect us.

Phyllis Ivers

Bluffton