Suspicious Activities Put Treatment Facilities on High Alert

The discovery of PCBs in upstate South Carolina wastewater treatment plants has prompted the Department of Health and Environmental Control to take emergency actions to prevent the spread of the toxic chemical while they and the EPA investigate the source of the contamination.Since the original report of PCBs at three wastewater treatment plants this summer, the state has found contamination on a septage hauler’s equipment, restaurant grease traps, waste oil storage tanks, an oil recycling company truck, and in a stormwater pond. At least one septage hauler has been ordered to cease operations due to the contamination on its equipment.DHEC