SC agency strengthens public transparency around industrial PFAS pollution 

New permit process requires polluters to disclose toxic PFAS and 1,4-dioxane discharges into waterways 

CHARLESTON, S.C. — This fall, after extensive public advocacy by the Southern Environmental Law Center and other groups, South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) took major steps to increase transparency around toxic industrial pollution of our state’s rivers, streams, and drinking water sources.  

For decades, polluters have illegally dumped toxic chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and 1,4-dioxane into South Carolina rivers and streams without telling DHEC or the public. Now, the agency is expressly asking all industrial facilities and wastewater treatment plants seeking permits to discharge pollution into state waters whether that waste includes toxic PFAS or 1,4-dioxane. The Clean Water Act has always required dischargers to disclose what they are releasing into the state’s rivers and streams, but PFAS and 1,4-dioxane polluters skirted these requirements before DHEC added these questions to the permit application form. 

“For years, South Carolina has had a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy around PFAS and 1,4-dioxane pollution. As a result, these toxic chemicals have contaminated rivers, drinking water, fish, and people across South Carolina––and the public has no idea who is responsible,” said Carl Brzorad, Senior Associate Attorney at SELC. “Industrial polluters should not be allowed to poison rivers behind a veil of secrecy. We’re heartened to see DHEC start to peel back the veil.”   

PFAS and 1,4-dioxane are industry-made chemicals that are toxic to human health and the environment at extremely low levels; both chemicals are linked to cancer and a myriad of other health problems. Recent testing found that waterways and fish across the state are contaminated with PFAS, and that the drinking water of many South Carolinians is polluted with PFAS and 1,4-dioxane––often at levels exceeding public health advisory limits. This unabated pollution harms public health, the environment, and the economy. Without knowing where the pollution is coming from, the state cannot begin to control it or safeguard rivers, drinking water sources, and fish for our communities, as the Clean Water Act requires.  

After SELC highlighted these problems in public comment letters and stakeholder meetings, DHEC began requiring dischargers to answer questions about their PFAS and 1,4-dioxane pollution. Not only must industrial facilities and wastewater treatment plants disclose this pollution, dischargers who generate “sludge”––a byproduct of the wastewater treatment process––and spread it on land must also disclose whether the sludge contains PFAS. PFAS-laden sludge has poisoned farmlands in South Carolina and across the country, with rainwater washing the toxins into groundwater, rivers, and streams.  

Together, these new requirements will begin to shed light on industrial pollution that is harming public health, the environment, and the economy.    

“This is a step in the right direction,” said Brzorad. “Now, DHEC must use this information to require industry to control their PFAS and 1,4-dioxane pollution to protect our rivers and drinking water.”