Environmental groups enforce heated wastewater protections for North Santee River

GEORGETOWN, S.C. (WCSC) - The North Santee River in Georgetown now has more environmental protection thanks to a new settlement.

The Coastal Conservation League and Winyah Rivers Alliance reached an agreement with Santee Cooper to avoid heated wastewater discharge into the North Santee River.

The settlement comes after a proposal last year from the utility company to raise the Winyah Generating Station coal plant’s heated wastewater discharge limit to 115 degrees.

Senior Attorney Nick Torrey with the Southern Environmental Law Center says the utility company has been capped at a protective discharge temperature of 98 degrees for years. He says hotter water would expand the impact area in the river basin.

“That hot water takes space in the river to dissipate,” Torrey says. “What we foun