Judge G. Ross Anderson said Schlumberger Technologies must have the dams removed by July 7, 2010, according to a court clerk.
Removal of the two Woodside dams is part of a settlement the company made with officials in South Carolina and Georgia to restore the natural resources along the river and Lake Hartwell.
Both were contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs.
Anderson signed an order for them to remove the dams more than three years ago, and he called Tuesday’s hearing to find out why they are still standing.
Previously, no timeline was set for the dams’ removal.
Now, Schlumberger officials must submit preliminary design plans by July 31 and the final design by Aug. 31, court officials said.
Anderson also set a hearing date for Oct. 13 to hear arguments about the proposed removal of a third dam, owned by Easley-Central Water.
Larry Dyke, a Clemson University professor and environmentalist pushing for the third dam’s removal, spoke during Tuesday’s hearing and called it a “new day.”
“I thought Judge Anderson was prepared to get things back on track and to take up the question of the third dam’s removal,” Dyke said.
Anderson’s clerk said he will listen to a proposal to either remove the dam using some of South Carolina’s portion of the $11.96 monetary settlement, or to make Schlumberger pay for the removal as a penalty for being so late in removing the other two dams.
She said there is currently $8.9 million remaining in that account, slated to restore the natural resources and fishing opportunities lost because of the contamination.
Natural Resource Trustees had previously said they would consider using some of the money to remove the Easley-Central dam.
Dyke and representatives of other environmental groups say removal of the third dam is essential to the remediation plan to allow clean sediment to cover up the contamination.
They also say it’s the only way to return the river to it’s free-flowing, natural state.
The river, lake, six satellite dump sites and the Sangamo-Weston plant property are part of a federal Superfund site.
Sangamo, a Pickens plant that has been closed for many years, manufactured PCB-laden capacitors from 1955 to 1977.
Environmental officials estimate that they dumped approximately 400,000 pounds of the carcinogen into the Twelve Mile River, a tributary of Lake Hartwell, and disposed of numerous capacitors at the plant site and satellite dumps.
Schlumberger Technologies bought the company in 1978 and assumed responsibility for the contamination and cleanup.
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