Quartz CountertopsNear Walterboro, SC

|Updated: Nov. 9, 2024 at 7:37 AM EST

WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - Five thousand gallons of water from a sewer in Walterboro are flowing into a nearby creek, raising concerns and creating a smelly environmental problem.

The reported overflow is near the intersection of Ireland Creek Drive and Dowling Avenue in Walterboro.

The S.C. Department of Environmental Services has confirmed this problem is reported on their Sanitary Sewer Overflow list but Walterboro’s Public Works Director Mike Crosby is listed as marking the problem as complete.

But footage showed water was still flowing out of the drain Friday.

The report states Walterboro’s Wastewater Treatment Plant recorded approximately 4.5 inches of rain in a little more than 24 hours which caused a surcharge in the collections system.

Those who live in the area say this specific drain overflows every time heavy rains come to the area which has happened multiple times in the last year.

“Everybody knows about it, just nobody does anything about it,” a nearby business owner who asked only to be identified as “Tim” said. “I went over to the city water department and said, ‘Hey, there’s a problem,’ and they said, ‘Yeah, we’re aware of the problem.’ So I figured they’d be finding a solution; that was a year ago.”

The possibly contaminated waters are flowing into the nearby Ireland Creek which feeds into the Walterboro Wildlife Sanctuary.

“There’s people fishing out of that river,” Tim said. “It’s not a huge creek, but it empties into other creeks so anywhere between here and there is getting contaminated with sewage and bits of stuff and bacteria.”

When the water flows, the surrounding area already smells like sewage and residents say once the water stops following and dries up in the sun, the smell gets even worse.

“When it really starts to sit there and get stagnant, oh, then it’s really bad. That’s when they’ll throw lime on it,” Tim said.

Residents said they have expressed concerns to the city when the overflow happens and the city sprinkles powdered lime on the saturated ground to cover up the stench.

“It’s a way of masking the smell, for sure, but it’s not the solution long term,” Tim said.

The same Sanitary Sewer Overflow report states lime powder has been applied by the city and clean up efforts will continue as the flow recedes.

But residents are still concerned how this is affecting the environment as this is not the first time it has happened.

“It could be a simple issue that they don’t know what to do about it, but it seems like after many years, somebody could have come up with some sort of solution to keep the sewage from dumping into the river,” Tim said.

The S.C. Department of Environmental Services said “it’s marked Complete which indicates it’s been cleaned up and addressed by the wastewater system.”

The City of Walterboro released the following statement:

“It’s not uncommon for heavy rainfalls in a short amount of time to cause issues for wastewater collection systems. The agency has been in communication with Walterboro about the release to ensure the facility continues to take the appropriate steps to minimize any potential impacts to the environment.”

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