Floyd aligns with Wilson on Kinder Morgan fuel spill – By Stan Welch
The newly installed Anderson County Council swore in two new members, elected a chairman and vice chairman and moved quickly through an abbreviated agenda Tuesday night. Craig Wooten was sworn in as the District One Council representative, replacing Francis Crowder, who chose not to run again this year. Councilman Ray Graham, who defeated incumbent Mitchell Cole in the republican primary and then defeated former councilman Eddie Moore, was installed as the District Three representative.
The Council then moved to re-elect Councilman Tommy Dunn as chairman Dunn defeated Tom Allen by a vote of 4-3. In a bit of a surprise, Councilman Ray Graham was elected as vice chairman, again defeating councilman Allen by a margin of four to three.
Councilman Ken Waters made the traditional presentation to Chairman Dunn in appreciation of his service as chairman the previous year.
Councilwoman Gracie Floyd made a brief presentation which essentially allied her with Councilwoman Cindy Wilson in her efforts against the Kinder Morgan corporation, concerning that company’s 370,000 gallon fuel spill at their tank farm location near Belton in 2014.
Kinder Morgan has conceded their role in the huge spill, as reflected in their corrective action plan, submitted to DHEC.
“The source of residual soil, groundwater, and surface water contamination is from a release of product that occurred at a sleeve on Plantation’s 2-inch product pipeline. The release was discovered on December 8 , 2014. Plantation estimates that approximately 8,800 barrels (369,600 gallons) of product were released. Of this, approximately 4,978 barrels (209,000 gallons) have been recovered to date using high-vacuum extraction equipment from a network of product recovery wells, sumps, and trenches.
The release occurred in an upland area of the site where precipitation recharges the underlying aquifer. Groundwater flows radially from the release point. Impacts to groundwater extend laterally in three directions from the release point: to the north approximately 900 feet into an adjacent hayfield; to the northeast approximately 1,000 feet to Brown’s Creek; and to the south approximately 300 feet to Calhoun Road . Cupboard Creek flows intermittently, indicating that the majority of flow from the Lewis Drive ridge is to the northeast, toward Brown’s Creek.”
Wilson, whose district contains the spill site, is allied with the Southern Environmental Law Center, the Savannah Riverkeeper and the government advocacy group UpState Forever, in opposing the CAP and demanding greater efforts to restore the site to pre-leak conditions. She, along with those entities, calls for a total clean-up, including the removal of all gasoline from the recovery wells.
Tuesday night, Floyd clearly aligned herself with Wilson, a traditional rival on the Council, when she explained the impact of the spill on Broadway Lake, which is largely in her district. She also cited the Savannah Riverkeeper’s claims that Lake Russell and Lake Secession, as well as the Savannah River have been polluted by the spill. She called on the county to become fully and formally involved in efforts to hold Kinder Morgan responsible for a total cleanup.
