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On March 03, 2008, the Department of Health and Environmental Control, DHEC, issued this news release: “Some 400 signs are going up at bodies of water where fishing and swimming advisories exist, the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control reported today.” It was a rather lengthy release describing what, why, where and the health hazards that prompted the Postings. DHEC also announced that they were distributing almost 60,000 Fish Consumption Advisory booklets around the State. The news was promptly announced in the newspapers. Seneca’s Daily Journal reported the news March 05, 2008 and the Greenville News reported it on March 09, 2008.
The Water Committee’s efforts to achieve this goal started in June 2007 with a meeting of the SC Sierra Club Water Committee and the Staff of the DHEC Bureau of Water. The Water Committee is made up of members of the Foothills Group of the SC Sierra Club. The goal of the Water Committee is Clean Water for the sake of the health and the safety of the Citizens of South Carolina, especially the children and grandchildren. The Water Committee (WC) pressed for Waterway Postings, elimination of unpermitted discharges into SC waterways, better septic drain field regulations and bacteria source tracking to identify whether the bacteria and pathogens in the water are coming from humans or animals.
This was followed by a presentation to the Board of Directors of DHEC in July to apprise the Board of the hazardous pollution levels in the waterways of South Carolina. Again the WC pressed for Waterway Postings. The Board appeared surprised at the high levels of fecal coliform. In September the WC met with Senator Thomas Alexander and Representative William Whitmire to give them the information on pollution in South Carolina and so they could carry the message to Columbia.
The summer provided the WC time to prepare three books of maps showing the location and the amount of pollution in South Carolina, The Book of SC Rivers and Streams; The Book of SC Lakes and The Book of SC Coastal Waters. The maps and the pollution data were all extracted from DHEC data bases and books; a very long and tedious task. Now the pollution information is in a form that the Citizens of South Carolina can look at and understand. There are 94 maps. A person can see the pollution, where they work, where they live and where they play. The maps are also available on the South Carolina Sierra Club web site.
On September 6th, the SC Conservation Common Agenda Conference was held in Columbia and Posting of the Polluted Waterways was voted the number one issue by the members. Bob Guild of the Sierra Club made an impassioned speech about South Carolinians Swimming in Sewerage, based on his own experience. The Conservation Common Agenda is composed of most of the Conservation groups in SC; the Chair is Ann Timberlake. There were over 30 groups at the meeting.
On September 26th, the WC made a presentation at the Estuaries of the Low Country Week on Hilton Head in the Discovery Museum. This presentation concerned the pollution in the shellfish beds in the estuaries and along the coast, and the numerous beach closings due to high Enterococcus concentrations were discussed. The WC prepares a Power Point CD for each presentation that has maps, information and data that is specific for each presentation. The audience had no prior knowledge of the pollution. The WC also attended the regular meeting of the Nancy Cathcart Sierra Club Group in Beaufort, and displayed the poster boards of the pollution maps of the area that were used at the presentation. The newly elected State Senator from the local area attended the meeting. The two poster boards were left with the Nancy Cathcart Group, Conservation Chair, Joe Whetstone.
In October, the SC Sierra Club Conservation Committee declared that Clean Water is the number one issue and Posting polluted waterways is the first priority. And the WC sent a letter to Roger Scott, Bureau Chief Environmental Health with detailed information on proposed revisions to the septic drain field regulations. The proposed revisions were turned down and the SC DHEC septic drain field regulations still do not meet EPA requirements.
Benthic pollution is the pollution in the sediment under the water. The benthic pollution can be reintroduced into the water above by wave action; wading or wakes from boats. Benthic pollution is a particular problem along beaches because of the waves and people wading. As the WC learned more about benthic pollution from Dr. Lou Jolly at Clemson University, the WC decided to test sediment around Lake Keowee. Benthic samples are obtained from a one square meter of sediment under about two feet of water. Water samples were also obtained at the same locations, about 6 inches under the surface of the water. The benthic concentrations of fecal coliform were 1000 to 10,000 times higher than the fecal coliform in the water. One of the members of the WC scraped his hand while getting benthic samples, got a serious infection and was on antibiotics for three months.
The WC contacted The EPA, Joel Hansel, in Atlanta concerning the benthic pollution. The EPA is aware of the high concentrations of benthic pollution but is not sure what to do about it. This demonstrates that, DILUTION IS NOT THE SOLUTION TO POLLUTION !!! Dilution does not kill the bacteria and pathogens; Dilution does not neutralize the nutrients in the pollution that feed the bacteria and pathogens; and Dilution does not neutralize the chemicals and metals in the pollution. The bacteria and pathogens settle to the bottom of the waterway and grow and multiply with the addition of the nutrients and more colonies.
In December the WC attended a DHEC, Bureau of Water, and Bureau of Environmental Health meeting in Greenville to discuss the revisions to the septic drain field regulations. The WC had done considerable additional research and had forwarded three letters on the subject to DHEC. Again our recommendations were turned aside.
In December the WC met again with Senator Thomas Alexander and discussed the results of a survey of other States water pollution status. He was surprised to learn that South Carolina had more pollution than Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky or North Carolina. He later forwarded the WC information to Senator Daniel Beredin III, Chairman, Natural Resource Committee and Senator Harvey Peeler Jr., Chairman, Medical Affairs Committee. Senator Alexander has been a strong supporter of the WC efforts for Clean Water.
In January the WC attended a DHEC, Bureau of Water, meeting in Greenville to discuss the results of a DHEC sponsored septic drain field test in Charleston, and to discuss the possibility of a similar test in the upstate. There were a large number of representatives from various organizations, all with interests in septic drain fields in the upstate. The WC suggested that a test in the upstate would be difficult, costly and the results questionable because the dense soils in the upstate have a hydraulic coefficient of 0.0 to 0.2 feet per day and would require heavy equipment to drill the test holes. The Charleston area had sandy soils that allowed the crew to use light equipment to push the drill into the soil.
In February, the WC was invited by Eric Thompson, the new Chair of the SC Sierra Club, to participate in a teleconference from Columbia to Greenville, with Bob Guild, Chair, Conservation Committee and John Ramsburgh, new Chapter Director for SC Sierra Club. The purpose was to get everyone in Columbia and the Upstate up to date on the various aspects of the Clean Water effort. The channels for coordination were also discussed as the State Chapter, the Conservation Committee and the Water Committee interact with the Sierra Club Groups, the State Chapter, DHEC and the Legislature.
On February 5th the WC made a presentation to the Oconee County Medical Society at their monthly meeting in Seneca. With about 30 Doctors in attendance, we described the pollution in the Oconee and Pickens area. It appeared that this was the first time they were aware that the pollution problem was so wide spread and so serious. They also confirmed that they had treated patients for water-borne illnesses.
The February presentation was followed by a WC presentation at the Waccamaw Riverkeeper’s Conference on March 1st. The conference was sponsored by the Winyah Rivers Foundation and the Winyah Group of the SC Sierra Club. A standing room only crowd asked many questions following the presentation, including the local State Senator, Senator Cleary. The WC presentation was followed by a presentation by Dr. Jane Guentzal , Associate Professor, Coastal Carolina University, on “Mercury in our Environment and on Our Dinner Plates”. She described the widespread occurrence of dangerous levels of mercury in fish and shellfish from the local waterways and of the mercury in the fish and shellfish purchased at the local super market. This worked well with the poster boards that we had prepared for the Conference. The maps on the poster boards, derived from DHEC data and maps, showed Mercury Pollution in almost all the Waterways in northeast South Carolina. This mercury pollution was in addition to the fecal coliform pollution. Ingestion of mercury from water or fish or shellfish is harmful to the nervous system and recent studies are showing possible DNA mutations. This explains the limit in waterways of 144 nanograms per liter of water. The HG on the pollution maps indicates the concentration of mercury was above 144 nanograms per liter of water.
In March, with the generous help of a local volunteer, Dick Stone, the W.C. released a video on YouTube, titled “Reedy River Catastrophy”. The video is based on DHEC water sample data and paints a sorry picture for the Reedy River and the urgent need for community and government agency action. Just go to youtube.com and type Reedy River Catastrophy in the search space. Spell Catastrophy with a y. You can also read the W.C.’s response to the negative comments, at the website.
We are a group of seven men who have been working on local water pollution for several years. These men are: Earl Meyer, Stewart Christner, Fritz Lunde, Don Fuller, George Booth, John Curtis and Ken Rillings, all Sierra Club members. This group has been the ‘seed’ group of the water committee although throughout 2007 we have reached out to individuals in the various Sierra Club Groups for help. Janet Watt of the Florence Group, Joe Zdenek of the Henry’s Knob Group, Joe Whetstone and Janet Wedlock of the Nancy Cathcart Group, Herman Senter of the Foothills Group, David Dorche of the John Bachman Group and Christine Ellis of the Winyah Group have all been of great help in getting the message out.
Then DHEC announced, on March 3rd, that they were starting to Post polluted waterways; and that they were initiating a State-wide effort, with Postings and booklets, to inform the public about mercury and other chemicals in the fish!!
We are making progress; BUT much more remains for DHEC TO DO:
1) Stop unpermitted discharges, they pollute the water and add to the benthic pollution.
2) Implement septic drain field regulations that meet or exceed EPA requirements – refer to the December 2007, Open Letter to the Commissioner of DHEC, Mr. C. Earl Hunter.
3) Stop toxic and dangerous discharges from smoke stacks – what goes up, comes down into the waterways.
4) Implement bacteria source tracking – answer the question, “Is the source Human waste or is it Animal waste?”
5) Enforce Total Maximum Daily Loads for polluted waterways; better still, keep the sewerage and waste discharges out of the waterways, they add to the benthic pollution.
6) Implement water quality standards based on E.coli and/or enterococci as specified by the EPA in 1986.
7) DHEC has the authority: SC Water Classifications and Regulation 61-68, dated 06/25/04, Section E. “------------------. It is further declared that to secure these provisions of this Act, the Department of Health and Environmental Control shall have authority to abate, control and prevent pollution.”
With the help and support of the SC Sierra Club Groups and their members, and the concerned Citizens of South Carolina, we can make the Legislators in Columbia and the Governor aware of the seriousness of the pollution problem and of the urgency of correcting the problem for the health and safety of all the Citizens of South Carolina and especially the children and the grandchildren who will be here after we are gone.
CALL YOUR LEGISLATORS IN COLUMBIA AND TELL THEM TO CLEAN UP THE POLLUTED WATERWAYS OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND THAT YOU WANT THE CLEAN WATER YOU WERE PROMISED IN 1987 BY THE FEDERAL CLEAN WATER ACT.
Earl W. Meyer, Chair
Water Committee, 05.12.08 XXI SC Sierra Club, Conservation Committee
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