Environmental group seeks end to coal byproducts

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — An environmental group is suing a South Carolina utility, saying the company broke state law when it discharged arsenic and other contaminants into a river. The Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation says in a lawsuit filed Thursday that South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. should stop disposing of coal ash byproducts into the Wateree River. SCE&G operates a coal-fired power plant southeast of Columbia. In its lawsuit, the foundation says SCE&G signed an agreement with state environmental regulators in 2001 that acknowledged the pollution but didn’t require that it stop. The foundation says its members now fear using the river because of the pollution and also were deprived of an opportunity to speak out publicly against the project. A spokesman for SCE&G said its legal staff is reviewing the complaint. ___ Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP (Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)