U.S. District G. Ross Anderson Jr. recently made several recommendations, including spending $3 million to remove a third dam along the river, but he noted that will not cover the full expense to remove the structure.
“Everybody’s got an estimate, but my thumbnail estimate to remove the Easley-Central dam is between $4.5 million and $6 million,” Anderson told The Sentinel.
And state officials say that right now there isn’t any money for the project, or to pay for an engineering study to determine the actual scope and cost to remove the third dam.
Current cleanup plans for the Twelve Mile River does include removing the two Woodside dams, and those efforts have already started.
According to Ross, a place is currently being prepared to store the PCB-contaminated soil currently piled up behind the two dams.
Ross estimated that workers would likely start removing the sediment around the end of November.
The judge said he also recommended spending $3 million of the settlement money on a water educational center and the other $3 million on fishery enhancement projects designated by the natural resource trustees.
However, the trustees’ draft Recreational Fishing Compensation Plan allocates nearly all the $9 million for recreational fishery enhancements.
So far, they have not allocated any funds toward removing the Easley-Central dam.
Some environmental groups, like the Friends of the Twelve Mile River and Upstate Forever, say, however, that removal of all three dams is critical to the PCB cleanup of the river.
Meanwhile, the public will get a chance to weigh in on the issue.
A public workshop-style meeting has been set for Nov. 17 at the Anderson Civic Center.
The meeting will last from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Along with attending the workshop, the public can also provide input about the cleanup effort by taking an online survey.
Videos and a report about the different settlement project options are online at www.dnr.sc.gov/news/fishingcomp.
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