Huh - Columbia SC Residents Want 40,000 Tons Of Coal Tar Out Of River - Not Happening, Apparently [View all]

[hatrack]

Gosh, I'm sure Donald Trump will get right on that and help out citizens of the great state of South Carolina.

COLUMBIA, SC - The state’s plan to leave polluted coal tar in the Congaree River – instead of cleaning it up – drew a chorus of complaints Monday from people who favor getting rid of the nasty muck that’s coating the river bottom below the Gervais Street bridge.

At its first public session on the coal tar pollution since 2013, the state’s environmental agency said officials have tried to find a way to remove the coal tar, but so far, they have had no luck. A plan to dam up the river while the tar was excavated proved too difficult, which left the state little choice but to propose covering the goo with concrete and leaving it in place, regulators said.

But many at the meeting urged the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control and SCE&G to look harder for solutions. SCE&G is responsible for the cleanup because coal tar drained into the river decades ago from a manufactured gas plant on land SCE&G now owns.

“We want it out of there,’’ said Columbia resident Jackson Wools, among the approximately 100 people who attended. “That’s what the public wants. That’s why we’re here tonight. We don’t want it capped. We want clean water, we want clean rivers. We want something we can enjoy.’’ Charlene Coleman, a representative of the outdoors group American Whitewater, said after the meeting she could not believe SCE&G can’t find an engineering solution to get rid of the coal tar. “They’re escaping their responsibilities,’’ Coleman said. “There’s a way to do it. We made it to the moon.’’

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http://www.thestate.com/news/local/article132560104.html