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Friday, March 4, 2011
News / Biz It's only wastewater
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Fri, Mar 4, 2011 at 9:34 AM
Only 100 gallons of wastewater were spilled near Lake Wylie by Carolina Water Service on March 1. What's the big deal? They don't even have to report it until they spill 500 gallons, even though they keep spilling the stuff. But, at least the company is making good on its promise to the Catawba Riverkeeper, David Merryman, to report all of their spills.
But, still. Gross. And, keep in mind: This company wants its permit renewed.
And, really? You can spill 499.9 gallons of wastewater in the watershed for our drinking water and that's cool?
No, it's not cool. It's foul and unfair to all of the water drinkers downstream. And, let me remind you: We're all downstream from somewhere.
From The Lake Wylie Pilot:
According to the same company report submitted to South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, the incident occurred at about 4 a.m. March 1 at one of two company wastewater treatment facilities. An electrical malfunction caused a breaker to trip and overheat, which along with heavy rain caused a pump to overflow. It was “regulated manually until (the treatment plant’s) flow calmed down.”By law, the company didn’t have to report the spill. South Carolina requires DHEC notification of wastewater spills, under normal circumstances, only if the spill is 500 or more gallons, or if any amount reaches a state waterway. However, Tega Cay Water Service currently finds itself in an appeal process in which DHEC will decide next month whether it can continue discharging from its treatment plants.
As part of that discharge permit appeal – requested originally by the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation – Tega Cay Water Service agreed to notify DHEC of any overflow regardless of size or location.
“We are reporting everything,” Flynn said. “We are committed to the language that we and DHEC agreed to.”
Lately, the company has been filing a fair number of reports to DHEC. Catawba Riverkeeper David Merryman said late last month that the company was responsible for six spills in Tega Cay just in 2011. The latest spill was the second since then.
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