The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 28, 1990, Page 2, Image 2
Spartanburg i
By The Associated Press
SPARTANBURG ? Spartanburg County residents
have endured problems such as low water
pressure and high iron levels that discolor the
water, stain clothes and ruin appliances, sinks
and toilets due to violations of a water and
waste treatment system, residents say.
"This damn water is not fit to drink. It'll gag
you," .Harold Osteen, a Madera resident, said.
"We've begged for city water, but we can't get
nobody to do nothing."
Several residents have reported sewage backing
up in the streets, especially during heavy
rains.
The system was purchased four years ago by
the second-ranking member of the State House
and a top aide to Gov. Carroll Campbell. The
co-owners of Madera Utilities Inc. are David
Hawkins, the governor's director of legislative
affairs, and state Rep. Jack Rogers, speaker pro
tern of the House.
Rogers said he invested a "small amount" in
the project at Hawkins's request. Neither man
handles daily operations of the facilities.
"I hope the system is run properly because I
want it to be," Rogers said. "But I don't want
any headaches, and I would have no problem
disposing of it."
An inability to resolve the long history of
problems seems even more unusual since the
Spartanburg Water System and Spartanburg city
sewer utility have lines in the area and could
easily provide service to the neighborhood, acConditions
prir
By JAMESON GREINER
Staff Writer
A USC professor discussed the conditions he
encountered during his travels to the African
nation of Gambia as part of the Institute of International
Studies' "Brown Bag Lunch Series."
Upon returning from his visit, Morris Blachman,
associate director of the Institute of International
Studies, described Gambia as a country
with a "primitive" society.
"Life is on the edge," Blachman said.
"The folks that get sick in an area like this
either have some local remedy or way of dealing
with it, or it simply takes its course either
through some dehabilitating deficiency that gets
created for them, a handicap or death," he said.
The country's infant mortality rate supports
these claims. About 140 to 180 infants per one
thousand born die within their first year, said
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residents face w
cording to the report.
The utility provides water to the 50-house
Madera subdivision and treats waste water from
the subdivision and 222 households at area
apartment complexes.
A DHEC permit says state officials are supposed
to order Madera Utilities to close its
waste water treatment plant if access to a publicly
owned sewer system is available, but the
agency has not done that.
The systems had an equally abysmal compliance
record under Daniels's ownership, and
DHEC records show that past and current owners
have pocketed profits while generally ignor
nig warnings iiuin nciiiiii unic-iais.
The state Public Service Commission approved
the transfer of ownership to Hawkins
and Rogers despite a strongly worded objection
from former DHEC Commissioner Robert Jackson
in December 1985.
Jackson pointed out that Hawkins, principal
owner of the now-defunct United Utility Companies,
showed a "total failure to devote adequate
attention to basic operation and maintenance
needs and an unwillingness to spend the money
necessary to resolve recurring problems and to
comply with DHEC standards."
DHEC fined Hawkins $30,000 in April 1985
and ordered him to correct the deficiencies, but
Hawkins did not pay the fine. Five months later,
DHEC allowed him to pay a $5,000 fine
and sell the systems to another company.
Nevertheless, the Public Service Commission
uitive in Africa.
Blachman, who was traveling with a Catholic
Dni;af
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"I was really impressed with the sense of cultural
integrity and personal integrity that I
found, but at the same time there was such difficulty
with the conditions," Blachman said.
He said the small villages scattered around
the country proved the existence of the underdevelopment
and poverty level in Gambia.
Each village consisted of about six to 12
huts, the best of which were made of cinderblocks
and tin.
The villages did not have any running water
but had one well within walking distance,
which often had dead animals and bacteria in it.
Women would sometimes spend five hours a
day doing hard work consisting mainly of
I Continued from page 1
re diminished. April 15 this year, the
rds, only Pell Grants recipients could sig
increase.
6,000 students that aprl
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L* Ul UVJV' U1XO ptlOt J VOX , XTAVfAV llllUilllUUUH V
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e students apply before Financial Aid ai 777-81
j\ announcing
^ Auditions for a Musical/Drama
on Race Relations in South Caroli
WHO: Anyone - Student, Staff, Faculty
WHEN: 7:30 pm, October 1 and 2
WHERE: Palm Center, 728 Pickens Street
Audition Material will be provided
(Call 799-7363/4993 if more info, is neede
Sponsored by Palm Campus Ministry
iWliililH siYGoodFellas
:1Q 7:10 9:55 No Passes 1:00 4:00 7:00 10:1
marrow posrraKDS ?
MARGIN [rj I 1 FROM THE EDGE (5
2:00 4:15 7:30 9:45 JL 1:45 4:05 7:15 9:40
ick Swayze, Demi Moore Harrison Ford
-n U/^\qT I PRESUMED
(E^3 | INNOCENT
1:15 4:00 7:00 9:45 J|j ^ 1:30 4:15 7:05 9:50
^wS^MSSErn^\i/^omlng!Sractioi
)E4TH WARRANT B . ?c,s KSe hou,
2:30 4:40 7:20 9:35 J ^ Oct. 19 Quigley Down L
Ctna Program Union
s a tut Issues Committee
Presents
ida King
uerstty: The Next frontier "
red speaker Jor
rt tl JL TlnrftrntirtM of ttin
/v i v w i v \j y u vxs
Mnvan Creed
r 2,1990 6:30 to 7:30 P.M.
C Horseshoe
on: Russell House Ballroom
.Sponsored by
>n of Student Affairs Office of the Pres
n Students # Residence Hall Association
rail the Carolina Program Union 777-7130.
id for, In part, by Student Activities Fees. CAROLINA
rater problems
voted to let Hawkins assume control of the
Madera systems after considering DHEC's objections,
said Charles Creech, chief of the Water
and Waste Water Division.
Madera Utilities also operates a small sewage
treatment plant that serves 410 households in
two Pickens County subdivisions.
THrFf finpH thf? rnmr?3nv $10 000 for rf\
peatedly exceeding effluent limits and failing to
install necessary equipment in October 1989 ?
the same problems that persist at the Spartanburg
facility.
The company will collect $12,475 a month,
or nearly $150,000 a year, from its 670 sewer
and 50 water customers when rate increases
take effect in January.
In a July 31 letter that noted that many of the
same deficiencies have existed for years, DHEC
told Hawkins that he must hire a certified operator
to make daily inspections of the water
treatment system.
DHEC's inspection listed 26 deficiencies, including
dirty filters and an open valve that allowed
untreated water to flow into the system.
Drops in pressure indicate the well cannot
produce enough water to serve residents, who
not only drink and bathe in it but also use it to
irrigate lawns and fill swimming pools.
DHEC records show the system repeatedly
has exceeded maximum limits for biochemical
demand and total residual chlorine, which indicate
whether waste water is adequately treated
before it's discharged into Ranson Creek.
, professor says
crushing grain by hand to make meal for
dinner.
"The poverty level was so severe that even
tnose who lived at a higher level in that society
still live at a level that probably we in this
country would not consider very high," he said.
He accredits many of the problems and poverty
of Gambia to the lack of money the government
has for the nation and its people. He
believed the situation would not get better until
it was possible to change the direction of the
development of the country.
"They felt no sense of guilt or shame about
what their conditions were," Blachman said.
"They were acutely aware of the difference of
what they had and what they would like to
achieve for themselves and other people in their
population."
Bozo Continued from
number of Fra^r sa'd"
nificantly We see problems with inexperience,"
he said. "Things that are
just plain dumb, that are a conse:an
be ob
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34.
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Lna
======s^|| Daydreaming is an absolu
) 1!M diversion. It's amusing. It
m it gets your creative juice;
JR Experts say it's therapeut
mind off life's stressful dc
1^1 Imi lhere comes a time w
must come into focus. A t
ris: vpf hopes and aspirations are
gal spective and become real
Jnder JmJ f?r those of you who are i
thinking about the future
world, consider "After Cc
mm****
After College is a dynamii
that will helD vou achievi
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program union 5 After College Magazine Earls Co
LlAVI
Waste Continued froi
"A significant role of state waste
reduction programs is the provision
of technical assistance programs
for industrial waste management,"
McAnally said.
"Specific objectives of technical
assistance programs include provision
of an information clearinghouse,
provision of on-site technical
assistance to industry, and provision
of education, training and
nntrpiirh pffnrtc " hf? Cflirl
McAnally also said such "programs
should provide incentives
such as awards or grants to industries
and universities that work
with the programs.
McAnally came to USC after -he
earned his doctorate from Auburn.
He has researched industrial waste
water and constructed wetland
treatment systems.
Literacy Contin
their children to read is that much
greater," Shah said.
The problem is especially acute
among minorities. According to
the National Commission on Excellence
in Education, about 40
percent of 17-year-old minorities
are functionally illiterate, compared
to the national average of 13
percent for all 17-year-olds.
Illiteracy is costly, and not just
in emotional sense, Shah said. An
estimated cost of illiteracy to taxpayers
and business is $20 billion
per year, and an illiterate adult averages
42 percent less in earnings
than one who graduated from high
school.
USC is also a member of a national
coalition called Student Coalition
Acting for Literacy
Education.
USC hopes "to make an impact
on a national level eventually,"
Shah said. He is a member of the
board of directors of SCALE,
which also has members from
Dartmouth, Chapel Hill, UNC and
Stanford.
page 1
quence of never experiencing the
situation before."
Fraser said the existence of the
notebook is not to make fun of law
LYDREAU
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J onc
- Z\r~^ W he /
w
itely delightful you've dreamed o
's relaxing. And your future career
5 flowing. come your primar
ic, taking your informed decisior
lily grind. for future employ
more about emplc
hen dreams politics, salary rai
ime when cost of living com
put into per- growth projection
life goals. So vide all the answe
'eady to start
and the real So wake up and s
illege." the time to quit d<
your future. Sign
c new magazine scription to After
3 ail the goals cause tomorrow 1:
iption? Yes No
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urt Publishing Co. 4324 Barringer Drive Charlotte. I
m page 1
Jeffrey deBessonet, manager of
the Center for Waste Minimization
at the South Carolina Department
of Health and Environmental Control,
discussed the benefits of
waste minimization and the services
offered by his office.
"Waste reduction directly promotes
more use of raw materials and
lower costs to operate. Put the two
together, and you have a healthy
profit for your factory," deBessonet
said.
DHEC provides on-site inspections
that are confidential and nonregulatory,
deBessonet said. DHEC
offers "helpful hints" to those who
ask for assistance.
"After we inspect your factory,
we get back with you and tell you
what we saw wrong and offer suggestions
for improvement," deBessonet
said.
ued from page 1
South Carolina is already first in
the nation in both the number of
volunteer tutors and the number of
students served by these tutors.
These numbers also mean money.
Adult education students stop
receiving public assistance at the
average rate ot 2/1 per year, ana
this saves the state nearly
$600,000 per year.
There is still a long way to go.
South Carolina ranks 46th in a national
poll measuring the number
of adults (ages 25 and up) with
less than 8 years of education.
"There's a lot of difference," an
adult currently enrolled in the
program said. "When I first came
in here, I didn't know as much as I
do now. When I wasn't coming in
here, I wasn't worried about reading.
Now, I really am concerned."
The age range of people in the
program varies greatly, from the
very old to the very young.
The program also includes
males as young as 19 who "just
graduated from high school and
still can't read and just got by," Shah
said.
enforcement in South Carolina but
to make others recognize there is a
problem, to provide technical intelligence
and to help the field itself.
US
me advances confidently
ie direction of his dreams,
/ endeavors to live the life
tas imagined, he will meet
ith unexpected success. 99
?Henry David Thoreau
f. As you prepare for
', After College will bey
source for making
is regarding your search
ment. Want to know
>yment trends, office
lges, business travel,
Darisons and industry
s? After College will pro:rs,
and more.
mell the coffee. Now's
lydreaming and plan for
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