Richland County officials held a formal dedication Wednesday for a new water system that has replaced antiquated and once-contaminated wells in the Franklin Park and Albene Park communities.
In the late 1980s, about 94 homes in Hopkins were identified as having unsafe levels of either lead or gasoline; state environmental regulators did little to resolve problems until a 2005 investigation by The State newspaper. Richland County took over the system shortly thereafter, leading to construction of the new, $4.8 million water system, paid for mostly with federal money.
