PCBs: Old Chemicals Present New Challenges

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were banned from production in 1979 and have largely faded from public consciousness as a contaminant that individuals should be concerned about. With the possible exception of homeowners on Lake Hartwell, and possibly a few community members in the Six Mile Creek area, PCBs are not a chemical family that comes up for discussion often. This was largely true until stories starting breaking in late summer 2013 about the millions of dollars local wastewater treatment utilities were going to have to spend to clean up from illegal dumping of PCBs into upstate South Carolina sewer systems. What does this recent spate of illegal activity teach us about environmental risk and liability? Should managers of water resources take steps to change management of the resources they protect to address this activity or was it one time, not to be repeated? This paper provides a summary of the publically available background information regarding what happened and how the utilities in the Upstate have responded. Revisions made to public sewer ordinances in the wake of these events will be presented, as well as the impact to private businesses that were targets of the unauthorized disposal. Potential implications for future economic impacts and considerations that water resources managers can incorporate into future plans and procedures will be addressed. Finally, a consideration of how this information may apply to a broader perspective of the possibility of other contaminants entering the sewer system and the subsequent implications following such incidents.