SC Gov. McMaster announces $500 million plan to fix crumbling utilities
Gov. Henry McMaster announced plans Thursday to spend $500 million upgrading substandard water and sewer service for small, rural communities across South Carolina, a state where crumbling utility pipes are threatening public health.
The proposal, which needs approval from the Legislature, would make federal money available to repair rural utility systems, hook those utilities in with better equipped regional systems or add water and sewer capacity to attract industry to poor, out-of-the-way communities.
A bi-partisan group of legislators, on hand for the announcement during a news conference in Great Falls, pledged support. The South Carolina Municipal Association also backed the governor’s proposal.
The state Rural Infrastructure Authority would administer the funds, made available to South Carolina through the federal American Rescue Plan.
“To continue to provide the critical water services that people need, our infrastructure needs to be modernized and upgraded to meet today’s standards,” Rural Infastructure Authority Executive Director Bonnie Ammons said in a news release after the announcement. “Today’s announcement stands to be transformational in all corners of our state. Such investments will help to strengthen communities and put them in a position to succeed.”
Details of the plan would have to be worked out in the Legislature, but governor’s office spokesman Brian Symmes said the money would most likely be in the form of grants for small communities.
That’s significant because many small water and sewer systems are so poor they don’t have the money to match state or federal loans for utility upgrades. They also do not have the staff to apply for state or federal loans.
Republican McMaster’s announcement is significant, but even if approved by the Legislature, the $500 million won’t be enough to solve all of the problems with state water and sewer systems.
South Carolina utilities have nearly $2 billion in water system improvement needs, Ammons told a legislative committee in 2019, citing an American Society of Civil Engineers estimate. At the time, she said many systems were falling apart “like tissue paper.’’
President Joe Biden, while campaigning as a Democrat in Columbia two years ago, said it is “unacceptable’’ that South Carolina, like other states, has such needs.
It is not yet known how much of the money would be available for economic development, as opposed to repairing existing problems. McMaster and legislators on hand Thursday touted the need to bring in more jobs with improved water and sewer infrastructure.
While attracting jobs to poor areas is important, state health department officials said it’s also important to make sure small utilities provide safe service to existing customers.
Symmes said the Legislature must weigh in on that question when lawmakers return to Columbia. The Legislative session starts in January.
The struggles of small water systems are substantial, The State newspaper reported in 2019. An investigation by The State found that small water systems had trouble providing basic service that larger systems did not.
Among other things, the newspaper found that many small water systems repeatedly have violated safe drinking water laws, but are rarely fined large amounts and often fail to fix the problems.
State health inspectors have found disease-carrying bacteria, toxic nitrates and brain-damaging metals in the drinking water of small systems from the foothills to the coast during the past two decades, the newspaper reported. Many of these systems serve small populations, but collectively provide service to some 800,000 South Carolina residents, many of them poor, the newspaper found.
“These funds present us in South Carolina with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make big, bold, and transformative investments,’’ McMaster said. “We’re not going to waste this money, we’re not going to waste this opportunity. We will put it where it will do good now and for generations to come. We must seize this moment and set our state on the proper course, and a good course to prosperity.”
State legislators, including Sen. Mike Fanning, D-Fairfield, Sen. Penry Gustafson, R-Kershaw, and Rep. Randy Ligon, R-Chester, voiced their support for the proposal.
The state’s rural areas, especially towns like Great Falls north of Columbia, used to have thriving water and sewer systems that fueled the area’s textile mills. But as the textile industry shrunk and mills shut down, infrastructure in rural towns slowly crumbled.
Fanning said the Great Falls sewage system is aging and needs repair. Those shortcomings could have killed a deal to bring in a $423 million wine business to Chester County, where Great Falls is located, Fanning said. The deal ultimately was made possible by relying, in part, on sewer service from Lancaster County.
Myra Reece, director of Environmental Affairs at the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control, said the money would help ensure public safety.
“If passed, this proposal will help provide clean, safe drinking water in rural areas,’’ she said.
The money will come from the American Rescue Plan Act, which provides funds to “provide direct relief to Americans” and “rescue the economy,” according to a White House release. South Carolina received $2.4 billion in funds under the act.
This story was originally published October 28, 2021 at 6:55 PM with the headline "SC Gov. McMaster announces $500 million plan to fix crumbling utilities."
