More Pelion wells checked for toxins

DHEC is concerned pollutants could contaminate drinking water

Amid concern about drinking water safety near Pelion, state regulators sampled more than a dozen private wells Tuesday to see if a dangerous pollutant has spread from a 21-year-old sewage dumping ground.

The Department of Health and Environmental Control wants to make sure the community’s well water is free of nitrates, contaminants that can kill babies and worsen stomach disorders in adults.

Agency officials said they don’t have evidence the contamination is widespread, but they are continuing to investigate the extent of the pollution and where it came from. As part of its effort to address community concerns, the department will test wells in the area for people worried about nitrate contamination, DHEC’s top water pollution regulator said Tuesday.

Nearly 20 years ago, state regulators told the people of Pelion not worry about the sewage that would be dumped in their community. Today, that sewage has polluted groundwater with nitrates -- and some people in the area have nitrated-contaminated drinking wells.

“We want to make sure everybody’s water is OK,’’ said David Wilson, chief of the agency’s water bureau.

DHEC’s private well tests are occurring in the vicinity of the C.E. Taylor sewage disposal site off S.C. 302 in southern Lexington County near Pelion. The Taylor company uses trucks to spray human waste and grease on parts of the 287-acre site after a treatment process.

The waste comes from septic tanks, port-a-johns and restaurants. Sewage discharges from the Taylor operation — approved by DHEC in 1989 despite community protests — have polluted groundwater beneath the disposal ground, agency records show. Taylor disputes that, blames the pollution on farms and says DHEC has given the company poor advice. But Taylor has signed an agreement with DHEC to assess and clean up any pollution.

Earlier this year, wells serving four families near the site were found to contain unsafe nitrate levels, The State newspaper reported Sunday. People living in those homes, along Northcutt Road, are being advised not to drink the tap water until filters can be placed in their homes at DHEC expense. A cluster of three to four more wells to the east of the property has elevated nitrate levels, although the levels are not above the safe drinking water limit.

In an interview with the newspaper Tuesday, Wilson said DHEC doesn’t know if the Taylor site is causing contamination in private wells off the site. But the agency is now trying to determine if groundwater is flowing toward the polluted wells from the Taylor operation. Wilson said agency officials were surprised to find the pollution in the offsite wells this year. They had checked wells in the past and found nitrate levels to be within safe drinking water limits.

“We know there’s some groundwater contamination from the disposal operation,’’ Wilson said. “Whether or not that’s what has impacted these private wells, .... we don’t have the information yet to draw that firm conclusion.’’

Reached Tuesday night, company executive Frank Taylor said his operation hasn’t polluted the groundwater. He said he has run the business properly, but is an easy target for DHEC and critics. The agency is considering a new permit to continue the operation.

“I’ve never mishandled sewer,’’ Taylor said. “I’ve done it 45 to 50 years. If I knew we were causing it, I would close it down in a minute. But we are not putting that much out period.’’

The Taylor disposal area is one of just nine septic waste disposal sites of its kind in South Carolina, including one other site in Lexington County. Most sewage is treated in wastewater plants that discharge to rivers, rather than apply waste to land.

Since the newspaper reported on the contamination Sunday, DHEC has received a number of phone calls from the tiny community about 30 minutes southwest of Columbia. While parts of the Pelion area are served by public water, many people still rely on private wells for drinking water.

DHEC could not give an exact count of private wells near the site, but officials estimated 30 to 40 private wells are within a half-mile of the dumping ground.

Some residents said they are glad DHEC is checking wells, but the state Sierra Club’s Samantha Siegel said she’s disappointed in the agency’s oversight of the Taylor operation during the past two decades. DHEC has never issued a fine against the Taylor company. From 1989 until recently, the department had also approved increasing the amount of sewage spread on the land. At one point, Taylor was discharging 50,000 gallons per acre, per year on the 287-acre tract. That has been sharply curtailed recently.

“DHEC should have been more aggressive in .... investigating the extent of this contamination,’’ Siegel said. “The fact that they still don’t know the extent is troubling to me. And it is really troubling for the people who live in the area.’’

Wilson and top agency officials said anyone who wants his or her well tested can call the department’s district office at 896-0620. It may take a week for someone to come out and it could be several weeks before results come back.