Hart Factbook 2009

Old PCB contamination case settled

For decades, the problem of PCB's in Lake Hartwell has been tossed around in the hands of experts, but is manifest for most Hart Countians in fish advisories about contamination and consumption of certain fish species.

Now, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, Schlumberger Technology Corp., headquartered in Texas, has agreed to pay $11.8 million to federal and state agencies for injuries to natural resources caused by the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls in the Twelvemile Creek, Lake Hartwell and surrounding areas.

Schlumberger will also spend an additional $8 to 10 million to purchase and remove two hydroelectric dams on Twelvemile Creek, and to restore streams.

The $11.8 million will be used to provide opportunities for the public to catch uncontaminated fish in the vicinity of Lake Hartwell, to enhance the fishery of Lake Hartwell and Twelvemile Creek, and to improve the habitat and natural resources within the Twelvemile Creek corridor.

Additionally, Schlumberger is required to pay $530,000 to reimburse the natural resources agencies for their costs in assessing natural resource damages.

“Schlumberger's payment to fund restoration by the federal and state trustees will be used for projects designed to compensate the public for the injury to the fishery and to the habitat from PCB contamination,” said Sue Ellen Wooldridge, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. “The company's agreement to purchase and remove the dams will directly improve the Twelvemile Creek ecosystem and provide significant environmental benefits for the affected communities.”

Schlumberger is the current owner of the SangamonWeston plant site, a capacitor manufacturing plant in Pickens, S.C.. The plant was owned and operated by SangamonWeston from 1955 to 1987.

Schlumberger assumed the liabilities of Sangamo associated with the PCB contamination in a series of corporate transactions that took place between 1990 and 2003.

PCBs are a mixture of synthetic organic chemicals which, because of their good insulating properties, were widely used in electrical equipment. In the U.S. PCBs were banned from use in most products by 1977 because it was discovered that they accumulate in the environment and can have immunological, developmental and reproductive effects in organisms such as fish, mammals and birds.

The recent settlement resolves claims for natural resource damages under the the Superfund Act and the Clean Water Act, as well as state law claims for natural resource damages.

Under an earlier administrative action, Schlumberger is conducting cleanup activities in and around Lake Hartwell under the supervision of the EPA in Atlanta.

The Justice Department will accept public comments on the consent decree for a 30-day public comment period that will be publicly announced and will begin shortly. A copy of the consent decree will be available on the Department of Justice Web site at http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/open.html.

edithgaines@hartcom.net