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SC Environment Dept. loosens arsenic limit for electric utility
A utility with a history of arsenic pollution near Eastover no longer faces state limits on how much of the toxic material it can dump in the Wateree River.
Responding to a request by SCE&G, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control recently agreed to eliminate arsenic limits in a wastewater discharge permit for the utility's power station upstream from Congaree National Park.
River protection advocates say they are dismayed by DHEC's decision, which is not yet final. Having no limits could allow SCE&G to release more of the poisonous material from its coal waste ponds - already a source of groundwater contamination, critics say.
"Why would you remove a limit on something that is essentially already a problem?" asked Catawba Riverkeeper David Merryman, who also tracks issues on the Wateree.