David Wren's excellent coverage of developments in Myrtle Beach, SC continue with this latest installment in the Sun News (SC). In it, we learn that South Carolina's Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) put too much faith in a polluter's promises at the expense of public health:

S.C. officials told AVX Corp. as long as eight years ago to test for groundwater contamination at property adjacent to the manufacturer's headquarters, but the state backed off after AVX said all contamination from its use of a toxic chemical had been contained on the company's land.

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control now knows that wasn't the case, and agency representatives say they should have been more insistent on testing rather than being swayed by the electronics manufacturer.

On Tuesday's meeting with the Myrtle Beach Town Council, DHEC geologist Carol Minsk sounded defensive:

DHEC asked AVX at that time to test groundwater on property across the street from the manufacturer, but AVX "made the argument that their [cleanup] system was effective," Minsk said.

Results from test wells on the perimeter of AVX's property showed little or no TCE contamination, Minsk said, and "logic would tell you the contamination wasn't beyond those wells."

Minsk said DHEC also was at a disadvantage because AVX did not tell state officials about the contamination until 14 years after the manufacturer first tried to clean it up.

"We didn't know how much [TCE] had been spilled," she said, adding that such knowledge might have prompted DHEC to order the off-site testing. "Based on the data we had, it showed the contamination was contained."

[...]

Minsk said the evidence AVX presented at the time was convincing, but in hindsight DHEC made the wrong decision.

Yeah, like it's hindsight that's needed to realize blind trust in a polluter might be bad policy for a state agency. Give us a break.

Read the full story here.