Sewage Spill in South Carolina - Sewage Right to Know is Needed

August 11, 2008 | Stormwater & Sewage

Katherine Baer
Senior Director, Clean Water Program

As I waded in Maryland’s South River with my dogs this weekend, I was once again glad to live in a state where sewage spills are required to be reported to the public. I don’t have to worry that my pups and I are swimming in sewage.

If you live in South Carolina, you’re not so lucky. Swimmers and boaters on the Saluda River were not alerted of a sewage spill for six days after the fact causing some people who were enjoying the river to get sick. We reported last year that South Carolina has some of the weakest protections for public health in this area – there’s no state requirement that sewage treatment plant operators notify the public when there’s a spill.

Yet another demonstration of why a federal Sewage Right-to-Know law is needed to provided a consistent minimum protections for everyone whho loeves their rivers, regardless of what state they live in. The Sewage Right-to-Know bill recently passed the House and we are now working to get it passed in the Senate.

Swimmers on the Saluda and many other rivers deserve to know.

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