Tests on specks in water prove inconclusive

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CANADYS -- The mystery of the black particles continues.

In separate analyses, state environmental investigators and South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. said black specks they found in well water next to the power company's plant aren't coal or coal ash.

But in a letter to residents in the area, the state Department of Health and Environmental Control said the agency didn't have the equipment to "positively identify all of the particles," and that they need more samples to get to the bottom of the matter.

Meanwhile, SCE&G said its consultant found black specks in wells belonging to two employees near the plant but that the sediment was "not consistent with coal." Tests also showed that the well water was safe to drink.

Residents said these tests don't tell them what the black materials are nor where they're coming from.

"Something doesn't add up," said

Danny Coe, who lives near the plant and received one of DHEC's letters.

Investigators with DHEC took the samples after a Post and Courier Watchdog report addressed the black grains in residents' drinking water.

The newspaper, along with College of Charleston geology researchers and students, collected samples from residents last summer.

Using an electron microscope and a machine that breaks materials into their basic elements, the researchers analyzed sediment in the water and compared it with chunks of coal found near the plant.

Based on the results of those tests, the researchers thought the particles likely were coal but that further tests were needed to confirm that finding.

After The Post and Courier's report, DHEC sampled wells from seven homes around the plant. The newspaper obtained results after filing a request under the state's Freedom of Information Act.

The documents show that DHEC did separate tests on the water and the particles.

The water -- minus any sediment -- was mostly free of contamination, a finding that the College of Charleston tests also showed. Some residents had copper and lead in their water, and DHEC officials said they think those contaminants were coming from the homes' pipes.

Tests on the particles were less definitive.

In its analysis, DHEC fed the sediment into a machine that identifies organic compounds, including those typically found in coal. The DHEC tests found none of these compounds.

Still, these tests didn't tell DHEC what the black sediments were, and the agency wrote in its letter to residents that it didn't have "the laboratory equipment to positively identify all of the particles that may be present in your plumbing system."

Aside from these tests, DHEC said in the letter to residents that a layer of impervious clay and marl separates the surface from groundwater in the area and that based on this geologic feature, the agency thinks that "the black particle material is not coal or coal ash that has moved down from land surface into local private wells."

In a twist, DHEC said residents might be finding lignite in the water, which is sometimes found in the area's aquifer. Lignite is sometimes called "brown coal" and is formed from peat at shallow depths and is a precursor to harder and blacker bituminous coal. Officials with DHEC weren't able to determine whether lignite was found in any of DHEC's first round of samples.

After the Post and Courier's Watchdog report, SCE&G also hired a consultant to test water from the homes of two employees who live near the plant.

The consultant found black sediment in the employees' wells but that the particles "were not consistent with coal."

Eric Boomhower, public affairs manager for SCANA, SCE&G's parent company, added that the area's groundwater tends to flow toward the plant, so any coal residue "would have to migrate upstream" to get into people's wells.

Based on DHEC's preliminary findings and the power company's sampling, SCE&G thinks the particles in people's wells "are not coal, and that there's nothing to suggest that it's any way tied to the operation of our facility," Boomhower said.

Vijay Vulava, a College of Charleston assistant geology professor who analyzed samples collected for the Watchdog investigation, said he didn't find DHEC's investigation to be conclusive.

Vulava said it's possible that DHEC measured one type of particle, and that his lab analyzed a different speck.

He added that DHEC officials told him recently that the particles they found had a "dendritic" geological structure, which is different than the sedimentary coal-like structure in the particles he and his students found in the water samples.

"I did see some particles (in his samples) that looked crystal clear, like sand, and if you ran tests on those, you wouldn't see anything (that would suggest it's coal) either," he said, adding that he stands by the results found in his lab showing that the particles likely were coal.

"Right now we can't add too much to this story, and DHEC isn't offering much either," he said.

The Post and Courier offered to give samples it collected from residents to DHEC for analysis, but the agency declined because it couldn't verify the "chain of custody" -- who collected the samples and how they were handled afterward.

DHEC says it has collected more black material from homes in the area and plans to send it to a lab with an electron microscope.

"This is well above and beyond our normal scope of responsibilities as we have already determined their well water is safe to drink," said David Baize, assistant DHEC bureau chief, adding that "we are willing to try and get a more definitive answer about the material to help the residents."

Answers are what residents still are looking for, Coe said.

"We wanted to know, is it coal or not?" he said. "So far they can't tell us that."

Reach Tony Bartelme at 937-5554 or tbartelme@postandcourier.com.