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DHEC makes no move to test residents for mercury

If high levels of mercury are already present in the residents, will the department give a green light to a Santee Cooper coal plant that could dump tons more particulate matter and mercury into the water?

By Todd Morehead

As was widely reported earlier this month, a number of doctors and concerned citizens submitted formal letters and gathered at DHEC offices in Florence on Dec. 6 to ask the agency to test residents of the Pee Dee for high levels of mercury in their bodies.

Responding to an investigative report published by the Charleston Post and Courier that found dangerously high levels of mercury present in S.C. residents who eat fish from local rivers, many in the Pee Dee worry that a proposed new coal-fired energy plant in the region would introduce more of the poisonous metal into the waterways. On Dec. 14, DHEC spokesman Thom Berry told Columbia City Paper that the agency has still not made a decision to follow up on the doctors’ requests.

“We haven’t reached a decision yet on the request for the mercury testing,” Berry says. “Part of the discussion we’re having internally is to figure out if we do the testing, what would be the best method to do this.”

One question worrying many in the region: if high levels of mercury are already present in the residents, will the department give a green light to a Santee Cooper coal plant that could dump tons more particulate matter and mercury into the water? DHEC has so far not commented to City Paper. The department has already issued the coal plant a preliminary permit, though they recently extended the time for public comment on that permit until January 22.

Dr. John Mattheis, MD specializes in preventative medicine and rural health at the McLeod Health Center in Florence and was one of the doctors who petitioned DHEC. He hopes the department will act, but retains a healthy skepticism.

“I have heard nothing [from DHEC],” Mattheis told City Paper. “I presented myself as a concerned physician and citizen with the general request for DHEC to be diligent in its duties and provide full public disclosure. I have no idea how, if, and when DHEC will respond.”

According to watchdog Web site, ScoreCard.com, which tracks toxic emissions by state and county, Florence County is already one of the most polluted counties in the nation, before the introduction of the new coal plant Santee Cooper hopes to build near the town of Kingsbury. Should DHEC grant the utility company an air quality permit, it would reportedly allow the plant to emit 138 pounds of toxic mercury per year. According to some sources, one pound of methyl mercury, should it find its way into lakes and streams, is enough to contaminate 500,000 pound of fish tissue.

Mercury contamination can cause mild to severe neurological damage to children and also fetuses in utero. Severe weakness and loss of hair and teeth is another symptom with children. It is still unclear what effect mercury ingestion has on adults. Some research shows that an occasional to moderate consumption of mercury-contaminated fish is not harmful to adults, though people who eat it regularly are naturally at a higher risk. The Post and Courier reported some fish caught in South Carolina rivers and lakes contained enough mercury that, should they be sold in grocery stores, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would be forced to order a national recall. The report also found that the coal plants in the four counties around Charleston alone generate close to 700 pounds of mercury per year and the article attributed to research showing that trade winds can carry the harmful metal virtually around the globe.

On Dec. 7—coincidentally, one day after the doctors’ march on DHEC—Santee Cooper unveiled its “Santee Cooper Green” campaign. The utility says the new, modern Pee Dee plant will be able to reduce particulate matter emissions by “more than 99 percent” and mercury emissions by “more than 92 percent” and claims that it will be one of the cleanest in the nation. The company says it has considered other renewable energy options, like wind power, but found that the state’s demand required what they call 21st Century coal, or technology that allows for the recapture of carbon emissions. Regardless, the U.S. Department of the Interior has recommended that approval of the plant should be postponed until a detailed study of potential damage to the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge can be performed, specifically with regards to mercury and air pollution.

Meanwhile, some local residents have recently questioned Santee Cooper’s economic impact study for the region, claiming that the study fudges on the true number of jobs it would create for the area. The citizens group also claims, “according to an admission by the author of the study, one person with one job over five years counts as five jobs in the economic analysis,” a charge this paper was unable to confirm at press time.

“If Santee Cooper spent $1 billion state dollars on anything else,” says area resident Emily Jackson, “they would create more jobs without all the harmful impacts to Pee Dee families.”

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