TIMMONSVILLE, S.C. — The U.S. Department of Justice, acting on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), acting on behalf of the State of South Carolina, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina against the Town of Timmonsville, S.C., for wastewater and drinking water violations, according to a press release.
The complaint requests that the Court order Timmonsville to address the imminent, substantial and potential risks to human health posed by discharges of raw sewage or partially-treated wastewater into the environment, as well as take steps necessary to bring the wastewater and drinking water systems into compliance with federal and state laws, stated the release.
Keeping raw sewage out of the waters of the U.S. is one of the EPA’s top priorities. Raw sewage includes a variety of harmful pollutants, including disease causing organisms, metals and nutrients that threaten human health and degrade water quality.
For years, Timmonsville has been in violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA), the South Carolina Pollution Control Act and the South Carolina Safe Drinking Water Act.
Timmonsville has also failed to fully comply with numerous federal and state orders to correct deficiencies and, since 2012, the town has experienced increasing difficulty operating, maintaining and, in some instances, undertaking needed repairs to its wastewater and drinking water systems, noted the release.
Since 2005, the EPA has issued two administrative orders directing Timmonsville to address threats to public health and the environment arising from failure to properly operate and maintain its wastewater system.
Read the entire press release here.
