No sale, utility tells Lexington

Carolina Water Service told Lexington officials Monday that its utility network around the town isn’t for sale.

The private utility “is not interested in pursuing the acquisition that the town has proposed,” according to a letter to town officials from Richard Durham, president of the company’s Chicago-based corporate parent Utilities Inc.

All the private utility wants is a connection to a regional sewer system running through Lexington to eliminate spills that pollute the lower Saluda River from its sewage disposal plant in Oak Grove and nothing more, his letter said.

That connection is “the quickest and most cost effective means for eliminating the discharge,” it added.

Town officials are seeking to take over the entire water and sewer network in two nearby areas, saying that will provide much better environmental protection for a river popular for outdoor recreation.

Carolina Water Service may challenge the push from state officials to end operation of the plant if the town balks at providing the connection, company spokesman Tom Oakley said in a statement.

The company is ready to appeal the demand from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control to close the facility as “the last resort,” he said.

Carolina Water Service is pursuing the minimum sought instead of agreeing to changes that will assure the river popular is kept clean, town Mayor Steve MacDougall said.

“Their back is against the wall and they’re looking for any way to solve the problem,” he said.

At stake is who will serve 3,300 customers, an addition that Durham said would pave the way for the town to expand its service into more areas later.