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Should federal elected officials involve themselves in local government decisions at all? And if so, on whose behalf? In favor of the business seeking approval? In favor of the local government weighing the decision? Or in favor of citizens opposed to the pending action?
The Constitution grants Congress no direct authority over county council votes or FILOT agreements, and South Carolina’s Home Rule Act vests that authority squarely with county governing bodies, not Washington. But when a congressman’s industry alliances, caucus affiliations, and campaign donors have a direct stake in the outcome, the question gets more complicated. And when that involvement is selective, extended on behalf of a company but withheld when residents raise safety concerns, it demands scrutiny.
Those questions sit at the center of what happened in Fort Mill, South Carolina. Congressman Ralph Norman co-founded the Congressional Solar Caucus in 2018, accepted contributions from Silfab Solar’s lobbying firm, and supported the company’s FILOT agreement with York County before the Fort Mill facility was fully operational. When residents later raised concerns about the hazardous chemicals being stored and used at the site, Norman told them that contacting the county council was not within his purview. He was not alone in the decisions that brought Silfab to Fort Mill. York County Council approved the facility’s permits despite a Board of Zoning Appeals ruling against the location, placing a heavy industrial chemical operation near two schools. This report examines that record and the chemical incidents that followed.
The Silfab-Norman Forum
During an August 2024 public forum held in response to growing community outrage over York County’s decision to issue building permits despite a Board of Zoning Appeals ruling against the facility, Ralph Norman admitted that he had helped get Silfab’s fee in lieu passed by York County Council.“I talked to [York County] council members when they asked my support for the [Silfab] fee in lieu and I agreed with that, so they wanted me to call people, so yes…people called me and said they may have trouble getting their [Silfab] fee in lieu – I said, ‘that’s not right’ – I make calls at time if they ask me to. Somebody said call somebody, so I did that,” Norman stated. [1:46:35]
That admission sits uncomfortably alongside what Norman told residents in subsequent town halls and public forums: that he could not (or would not) contact county council members about the hazardous chemicals being stored and used at the facility. When a resident asked him to intervene on chemical safety grounds, he told the audience to “get educated.” When another audience member noted that residents had done exactly that–including consulting a chemist who concluded Silfab was operating illegally in a light industrial zone due to the volume of hazardous materials on site–Norman responded, “It’s not for me to say.”
The Solar Caucus Silfab Connection
Along with Democrat Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ralph Norman co-founded the Congressional Solar Caucus in 2018 and relaunched it in 2023. Subsequent to the relaunch, Norman stated in a Krishnamoorthi press release in 2023, “I am honored to co-chair the Bipartisan Solar Caucus with my colleague, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi,” said Congressman Norman. “I am grateful for his knowledge and leadership as we continue to see more alternative energy options for consumers emerge. I look forward to the bright future of this caucus.”
While many find it encouraging to see bipartisan Congressional activity, you have to question why a self-proclaimed conservative is buddying up with a democrat on a program that has historically been a priority for the left. Although Krishnamoorthi isn’t as far off the rails as many Democrats, he is a staunch liberal who is vice chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, formerly the Congressional LGBTQ+ Caucus and he supported the boondoggle known as the Inflation Reduction Act. Krishnamoorthi also supports windmills and “The Green Economy” and was the former president of a solar technology company.
During the same 2024 public forum, Norman acknowledged that he had accepted campaign contributions from Solar Energy Industries Association PAC (SEIA), Silfab’s lobbying firm. We were able to verify that Norman has received $2,000 from SEIA, the first thousand was received in 2019 and the second in 2023. According to the following article, Silfab’s announced effort to manufacture solar cells in the United States is one example within SEIA’s broader narrative of a domestic solar manufacturing boom driven by federal incentives, positioning Silfab as part of an industry-wide trend rather than a standalone project.
The Chemical Record
The facility Norman helped bring to Fort Mill stores significant quantities of hazardous materials. According to Silfab’s Hazardous Materials Inventory Statement, the Fort Mill site stores 26,400 pounds of silane, among other chemicals. Silane (SiH4) is a pyrophoric gas, meaning it ignites spontaneously upon contact with air without requiring a spark or external heat source. Trimethylaluminum, also present at the facility, carries the same classification.
A listing of the hazardous chemicals used at the Silfab Fort Mill site, taken from that statement, is below.
Norman also minimized the chemical risks publicly. Regarding silane, one of the chemicals stored at the facility, he stated: “I didn’t know what silane was until I started looking at it–there’s 5,000 different types, it’s in concrete that you drive on — there are more chemicals at Home Depot and Walmart…I’m not at all concerned about it after looking into it.” [1:34:02]
The threat of hazardous chemicals being released on the community is not speculation anymore. As we have previously reported, 1530 gallons of potassium hydroxide leaked out of a storage tank on March 3rd. Then, on March 5th, a hydroflouric acid leak caused the adjacent Flint Hill Elementary School to be closed for two days.
There are other issues related to the chemicals used by Silfab. As noted in our latest coverage, between January 12th and March, 30th, 2026, York County Fire/EMS Emergency dispatch received 12 calls for breathing troubles, chest pain, vomiting or seizures. Silfab claimed these calls were necessitated by individual pre-existing health problems. Yet, after Silfab’s solar cell manufacturing was shut down following the two March chemical leaks, there have been no emergency calls for workers inside the Silfab facility.
Shared Responsibility
Norman is not the only official who bears the responsibility for the decisions surrounding the Silfab Solar facility. The York County Council approved the permits over a BZA ruling. County officials issued those permits in a zone the BZA had determined was inappropriate for the facility’s operations. The decisions that placed a heavy industrial chemical operation near two schools involved multiple elected and appointed officials at the county level.
The incentives were not hard to identify. Silfab projected approximately 800 jobs for the Fort Mill area, a figure that carried obvious political value for officials representing the district. For Norman specifically, the facility also aligned with his role as co-founder of the Congressional Solar Caucus. For county officials, a FILOT agreement represented economic development activity that they could take credit for. None of those incentives are inherently improper. What is harder to explain is why those same officials, when residents raised documented safety concerns, concluded that the matter was no longer within their purview.
This brings us back to the question we have pondered for a long time… at what point do the interests of the community surrounding Flint Hill Elementary School factor into the decisions that brought this facility to its doorstep?
Links to previous Palmetto State Watch Foundation articles on our Silfab Solar series are below.