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Congaree Riverkeeper Files Amicus Brief with SC Supreme Court
Nov 30, 2020
In 2015 Congaree Riverkeeper sued private sewer company Carolina Water Service (now Blue Granite Water) in federal court to hold them accountable for their illegal pollution of the Lower Saluda River. In 2017 a federal judge ruled in our favor, finding that CWS had been violating the Clean Water Act. In 2018 the illegal sewer discharge from the I-20 wastewater treatment plant was eliminated, and in 2019 we entered into a settlement agreement with CWS to resolve the remaining portions of the litigation.
Despite having lost in federal court, CWS later asked the SC Public Service Commission for permission to charge their customers more than $416,000 in legal fees associated with our lawsuit. The PSC ruled against allowing the recovery of these legal fees from customers, and CWS eventually appealed that decision to the South Carolina Supreme Court.
Last week, the Supreme Court granted Congaree Riverkeeper leave to file an amicus brief in the case. In our brief we argue that allowing the recovery of attorney's fees would diminish the significance and value of the important victory in our litigation, unnecessarily punish the utility’s ratepayers, and undermine the purposes of the Clean Water Act and its citizen suit provisions.
You can read the full amicus brief here.
You can read the full amicus brief here.
