COLUMBIA, S.C. (CN) - South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. is illegally discharging arsenic and other toxins into the groundwater, putting the state's only national park at risk and taking advantage of low-income and minority communities, an environmental group claims.
     The Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation Inc. claims the energy company has been operating its 700-megawatt coal-fired plant for decades without a proper permit from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, polluting the Wateree River via coal ash impoundments located only 150-feet from the river's banks in Richland County.
     More than 2.4 million tons of coal ash has been stored at the energy company's Wateree Station in wet conditions in the unlined ponds, causing arsenic, a highly toxic carcinogen, to leech into soil and groundwater in violation of the South Carolina Pollution Control Act (PCA), according to the nonprofit's lawsuit, filed in Federal Court in South Carolina.
     The foundation claims the impoundments leak at times, creating "seeps" or channels of arsenic-contaminated water that flow directly into the river.
     Also at stake is the Congaree National Park, which lies downstream from the plant, and nearby communities whose residents have little recourse to stop the pollution, the nonprofit claims.
     The foundation fears an accident could trigger a major release of tons of material into the river.
     "SCE&G's coal ash impoundments are located dangerously close to the Wateree River on its banks, such that a natural or man-made disaster, accident, or other failure of the impoundments would result in a catastrophic discharge of tons of coal ash into the Wateree River," Catawba Riverkeeper claims.
     By failing to obtain the proper permit, the nonprofit says, South Carolina Electric & Gas dodged review from local residents who, through the permit process, would otherwise have had a voice through public comment, public hearings and judicial review.
     "The PCA ensures that people affected by the pollution, people who live near it, and the public of South Carolina will have an opportunity to participate in the decision whether their environment will be polluted and under what conditions," the environmentalists claim.
     The nonprofit says that the state signed off on a private consent agreement with South Carolina Electric and Gas in 2001 that stated the company's pollution was "unlawful and violated the PCA and groundwater quality standards."
     However, because the agreement did not require the power company to stop its discharges, it has continued its practices indefinitely, Catawba Riverkeeper claims.
     The groundwater contamination and seepage results in more than a quarter-pound of arsenic entering the Wateree River every day, or 90 pounds per year, the nonprofit claims, citing a recent Administrative Law Court decision involving Wateree Station.
     The energy company reported disposing of more than 2.7 million pounds of toxic substances at its plant in 2009, including arsenic, barium, chromium, manganese, lead and hydrochloric acid, according to the complaint.     
     The lawsuit cited data from monitoring wells near the river indicating the amount of arsenic entering the groundwater in 2007 reached levels of up to 500 times the legal limit.
     The Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation wants South Carolina Electric and Gas to stop dumping its coal ash into the unlined ponds and start using a dry disposal method in a lined facility away from the river.
     The nonprofit is represented by Frank Holleman III (Chapel Hill, N.C.) and J. Blanding Holman (Charleston, S.C.) with the Southern Environmental Law Center.