Success in South Carolina thanks to the Coastal Conservation League

Environmentalists and industrialists found common ground here in South Carolina after agreeing on a plan to remove and recycle coal ash at 3 Santee Cooper power plants. Spurred by a lawsuit by the Coastal Conservation League, coal ash stored in ponds will be recycled into cement rather than permanently encased on site. A June 7th article in The State quotes Dana Beach, director of the Leauge, in protest of the coal ash ponds: “It is not acceptable for any corporation, public or private, to burden future citizens and taxpayers with this serious threat to public health and the environment.”

Grainger Plant, Lake Busbee, Conway, SC on the Waccamaw River

Winyah Plant, Georgetown, SC near the Waccamaw River & Winyah Bay

Jefferies Plant, Lake Moultrie, Pinopolis, SC on the Cooper River

The tragedy of the Dan River, Virginia spill is still occurring and shows what’s at risk here in South Carolina along the Waccamaw and Cooper rivers. 70 miles of riverbanks were coated in gray sludge on February 2nd, 2014 in Virginia. The immediate aftermath was dealt with, but to get the river as close as possible to its original state has an unknowable timeline and requires ongoing monitoring of water, sediment and wildlife tissue. No fish can be caught here for some time to come, according to this June 9th Al Jazeera America article.

The three South Carolina sites will take 9-15 years (set to be complete in 2023) to move their toxic “mixture of arsenic, selenium, chromium, thallium, mercury and lead” away from our riverbanks, barricaded by earthen walls, vulnerable to earthquake and flooding. By selling the material, they can recoop some of $250 million cost of moving the material.

Santee Cooper’s Grainger and Jefferies coal plants shut down in 2012. The Grainger plant’s Lake Busbee is connected to the Waccamaw River near Conway. Its ash ponds have been revegetated, making removal more challenging. The Jefferies site in Monck’s Corner still operates a hydroelectric facility at the Pinopolis Dam, Lake Moultrie, which impounds the Cooper River, flowing into Charleston harbor. The Winyah plant is in operation, and is “the largest coal fired facility in South Carolina,” according to Sciway.net. The Winyah plant is near the Waccamaw and Winyah Bay in Georgetown.

Out if necessity, and due to more strenuous regulation, the coal fired power plant moved to transform their byproduct into something usable. The State article explains: “Previously, only dry fly ash had the qualities concrete manufacturers needed. In the years after the federal Clean Air Act amendments were passed in 1990, electric plants designed more strenuous emissions controls that degraded much of the fly ash and made it unsuitable for concrete production. SEFA responded by designing a proprietary thermal process that transforms wet ash into a high-quality product that is as strong and durable as regular concrete.”

This is proof that technological innovation will occur out of economic necessity. Strong legal action and constricting legislation is vital to protect our environment. Without it, we will never have the green economy of our dreams. It would be business as usual for South Carolina without organizations such as the Coastal Conservation League and South Carolina Environmental Law Project.