Work begins to remove coal tar from South Carolina river

Work will start this summer time to take away tens of hundreds of tons of coal tar from a South Carolina river.

The Congaree River in Columbia will stay open for kayakers and boaters, however there will probably be some adjustments, The State newspaper reported.

A ship launch at non-public land on Senate Avenue will probably be closed for 3 years as Dominion Vitality makes use of the location as its base to scrub up the 40,000 tons (36.3 million kilograms) of coal tar, which ended up within the river from a plant that burned coal to create fuel from 1900 to 1950.

Clear-up crews can even construct coffer dams properly away from the river’s shores that anybody floating or boating on the river should navigate round, Dominion mentioned.

“There will probably be various impacts relying on what people are attempting to do,” Congaree Riverkeeper Invoice Stangler mentioned. However the river will nonetheless be open to the general public.

The venture is scheduled to final three years and work can solely be executed between Could 1 and Oct. 31 to keep away from the spawning season for shortnose sturgeon, in accordance with The Military Corps of Engineers.

Work is also paused if heavy rains trigger the river stage to rise too excessive, officers mentioned.

Coal tar would not affect water high quality, however can irritate the pores and skin. The venture ought to take away about 70% of the coal tar from the river, authorities mentioned. The remaining tar in deep in areas the place people are unlikely to return in touch or was coated by sediment within the huge 2015 floods.

South Carolina Electrical & Fuel is answerable for the coal tar and Dominion Vitality took over that duty after they purchased the utility.