South Carolina fines Dominion Energy for polluting drinking water

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina regulators have fined a Virginia-based energy company for allowing sediment runoff from a pipeline project to pollute drinking water sources.

The State reported Monday that investigators recently culminated a monthslong investigation by fining Dominion Energy $4,200. State regulators say the company illegally discharged sediment along a natural gas pipeline route between Spartanburg and Lake Greenwood that eventually spilled muddy water into the South Tyger river.

The newspaper reports a Department of Health and Environmental Control spokesman has said the pollution forced a water utility district to buy water from other sources because sediment was clogging intake pipes.

In state documents, Dominion said a contractor it hired was responsible for the spill and promised to improve procedures.

The Health Department says it doesn’t think the pollution harmed aquatic life.