Stinky, dark discharges drained from pet food plant into creek, state says. Company fined.

A dark, smelly liquid that drained from a pet food plant has resulted in state enforcement action against the factory after months of investigation and a pile of complaints about polluted creeks in rural South Carolina

The state’s environmental agency has fined SC Pet Food Solutions $20,000 over discharges state inspectors say washed off the property and into a small stream in Saluda County, according to an enforcement document released this week.

The stream is a tributary of larger creeks that state records show were contaminated with harmful bacteria last summer. One large creek below the pet food plant — Mine Creek — was coated in a pea green slime and carried an odor that neighbors said was nauseating. Before the scum formed, the water had turned black, residents said.

Many people said they were concerned about the plant’s impact on the peaceful farming community before the plant opened about five years ago. Despite their reservations, state regulators approved the plant, saying it had proper pollution controls.

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control did not answer questions Friday from The State about any link between the pet food plant and pollution in major creeks. But Mine Creek connects with another major stream, Dry Creek, that the enforcement order said received discharges from the site of the pet food plant.

The enforcement action said the company had violated the state’s pollution control law when it allowed polluted runoff to leave approved areas for waste disposal.

SC Pet Food Solutions has paid the fine, a DHEC spokeswoman said. A spokeswoman for 3D Corporate Solutions, a partner in the pet food plant, declined comment. Efforts to reach Amick Farms, the other partner, were not immediately successful. Pet Food Solutions did not admit wrongdoing, but agreed to the enforcement action in an effort to resolve the issue with DHEC, records show.

One area resident whose father lives near Mine Creek said the issue has been an ordeal. But since the state inspected the area and began discussing the problem with Pet Foods Inc late last summer., the slime has disappeared from the creek, he said.

“As somebody who lives downstream, I’m glad DHEC took this seriously enough to look into it,’’ said James Edwards, an area resident whose father’s home backs up to Mine Creek. Since DHEC took action, “I haven’t seen anything close’’ to the creek pollution last summer, he said.

The Pet Food Solutions plant, in the tiny Ward community of Saluda County, is a large factory that processes byproducts from chicken processing plants to make protein meal for pet food. Amick is a major poultry processor in South Carolina and 3D is a national pet food corporation.

DHEC’s action follows multiple inspections and field visits last year by agency staff in response to complaints about creek pollution.

The department’s enforcement order indicated some of the creek pollution was tied to wastewater treatment problems and discharges from the company’s waste disposal system. The agency said it found foamy, turbid wastewater, with large mats of black solids and “globular-like materials.’’ That indicated a problem in the treatment process, the department said.

Pet Foods Inc., said it had experienced a surplus of solid material in its waste stream after one of the treatment basins was taken out of service, according to DHEC’s order.

DHEC said some sprayfields where wastewater is spread were saturated when inspectors were on the scene last spring. The area where the wastewater was sprayed also had multiple discharge pipes from the ponds, the enforcement order said.

The idea of spraying wastewater on fields is to let the material soak into the ground, rather than pipe it to a river. But the system will fail when too much wastewater is sprayed or piped onto the land, which can cause it to run off the property and into streams.

During the May 17 visit where the saturated fields and pipes were discovered, agency staffers saw “multiple discharges of the site entering an unnamed tributary to Dry Creek,’’ the enforcement order said. “The discharges were dark in color and had an odor.’’

In addition to the $20,000 fine, DHEC’s enforcement action requires the company to, among other things, submit a plan to correct problems, remove any remaining discharge pipes tied to the waste ponds and evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment system.