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Report says "forever chemicals" make SC's rivers the most polluted in the country

The Waterkeeper Alliance has identified a river in the country with the highest levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and it's located in South Carolina.

Residents who fish from the Pocotaligo River ― a tributary of the Black River situated between Beaufort and Jasper counties ― may have been exposed to harmful forever chemicals.

In an email to The State, attorney Carl Brzorad voiced his concerns regarding the public health issue.

"All indications are that industrial dischargers in Sumter are dumping toxic PFAS into the Pocotaligo through the town's wastewater treatment plant, which is not equipped to treat these chemicals. These industrial polluters need to treat their PFAS so that it doesn't poison rivers and fish," he said.

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Brzorad also called out the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services' failure to adhere to the Clean Water Act, which can limit wastewater discharges of PFAS, according to EcoWatch.

"DES has never set limits in a discharge permit," he said.

Here's what to know about the Pocotaligo River and key findings from the Waterkeeper Alliance's analysis of U.S. waterways across 19 states.


What is the Pocotaligo River?

The Sumter Pocotaligo River WWTP is a municipal wastewater treatment system owned and operated by the City of Sumter's Wastewater Division within the Utilities department, serving approximately 51,000 people, according to the Waterkeeper Alliance's PFAS Report Phase II.

The treatment system handles the wastewater from "numerous industrial discharges, including four permitted significant Industrial Users and 20 permitted Categorical Industrial Users."


Treated wastewater is discharged and released into the east branch of the river at an average design flow of 15 MGP. The river also covers up to 171,780 acres of S.C.'s Upper Coastal Plain region.

Who lives a mile from the facility?

The EPA EJScreen indicated that 65% of those living within a mile of the Sumter WWTP are people of color. Forty-two percent are low-income individuals.


Is the Pocotaligo a source of public drinking water?

No, but the river's contamination by PFAS could complicate efforts to establish plants as groundwater supplies diminish, according to EcoWatch.


Are there any limits on the amount of PFAs the Sumter WWTP can discharge into the river?

Sumter WWTP's NPDES permit does not impose any limits on the amount of PFAS the facility discharges into the Pocotaligo River, nor does it establish pretreatment limits to govern PFAS dischargers to the WWTP by industrial dischargers.

EPA's PFAS Analytic Tools lists 11 out of 24 permitted industrial users discharging wastewater to the Sumter Pocotaligo River "operat(ing) in sectors that have been identified as possibly handling, using, or releasing PFAS chemicals," according to the report:

  • Apex Tools (metal coating)

  • Armoloy Southeast (metal coating)

  • Continental Tire (consumer products)

  • EMS—chemie (plastics and resins)

  • Enersys—Sumter Metals (metal machinery mfg.)

  • GRR (waste management)

  • Interlake Mecalux (metal machinery mfg.)

  • Metal Finishing Services, Inc. (metal coating)

  • Metokote Corporation (metal coating)

  • Phibro—Tech, Inc. (chemical mfg.)

  • Santee Print Works (textiles and leather)


Because the EPA's PFAS Analytic Tools identified 40 facilities within the City of Sumter that operate in PFAS-related sectors, the following are "likely additional unpermitted industrial dischargers contributing to PFAS to the WWTP":

  • Airports

  • Chemical Mfg.

  • Consumer Products

  • Electronics Industry

  • Glass Products

  • Metal Coating

  • Metal Machinery Mfg.

  • National Defense

  • Paints and Coatings

  • Plastics and Resins

  • Textiles and Leathers

  • Waste Management

Watersheds with greatest downstream total PFAS concentration increases, per Waterkeeper Alliance

  • Pocotaligo River

  • Haw River and Haw Creek (North Carolina)

  • Rouge River (Michigan)

  • Monocacy River (Maryland)

  • Tualatin River (Oregon)

  • Santa Ana River (California)

  • Root River and Spring Creek (Wisconsin)

  • Spoken River and Dragoon Creek (Washington)

  • Cape Fear and South Rivers (North Carolina)

  • Cahaba River and Cane Creek (Alabama)






























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