Congaree River Coal Tar Cleanup Complete!

In mid-October contractors forDominion Energy completed work on Area 2 of the Congaree River coal tar cleanup project. DHEC conducted a final site inspection and certified that "to the extent practical, all residual TLM and sediment from the Area 2 removal area has been removed." This marks the competition of the removal phase of the coal tar cleanup project. In total, more than 38,000 tons of tar and material were removed from the Area 1 and Area 2 cofferdams.

The Area 2 cofferdam has been removed from the river. The contractors will continue land-side activities for the next several weeks, including stabilizing the banks, planting grass and trees, and removing remaining equipment and materials. In addition to removing the toxic tar, many historic artifacts were also recovered during the cleanup. Those items are being catalogued and preserved, and are expected to be displayed in a local museum some time in the future.

This significant milestone comes more than a decade after the coal tar issue surfaced in 2010. While this project was complex, and at times contentious, we are very pleased to see it come to a successful conclusion that protects the health of the river and our community. We appreciate the work of the many groups involved in this cleanup effort, including Dominion Energy, their contractors, SCDHEC, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Governor's Office, the City of Columbia, the Southern Environmental Law Center, and many others. 

It is important to remember that this cleanup only happened because citizens stood up, spoke up and demanded it. This is an example of what can happen when communities rally around their rivers and fight to hold polluters accountable.

You can read more in this article from The State Newspaper: Toxic gunk cleansed from Congaree River 13 years after first reported. What’s next?

You can read about some of the historic artifacts that were recovered during the cleanup in this article from The Post and Courier: Cannonballs, Confederate sabers and a burned wheel hub tell a 158-year-old story.

And you can find project updates and photos on the SCDHEC website here.