Violations found at Scout project site, state says. Pond, creek clouded by mud, reports say

The state’s environmental protection agency has found more problems at the Scout Motors project site north of Columbia, less than a year after the huge project ran into trouble over land-clearing work that had affected wetlands and streams.

Following reports this spring of a muddy, silt-clouded creek and pond in the area, state inspectors discovered that dams and basins intended to keep sediment on the site had failed and that trucks leaving the site were dispersing sediment off the property, according to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.

In addition, the agency recently discovered a place where diesel fuel had apparently leaked from a water pump onto the ground, records show. Diesel fuel contains toxins that can be harmful to people and wildlife.

Those violations were identified in March and corrected. But DHEC said it also discovered irregularities during a site visit Monday. The department is preparing a notice of deficiency outlining the most recent problems on Scout’s project site, DHEC said in an email.

A notice of deficiency is the first step in what could be a formal enforcement action involving Scout. If problems are not corrected, DHEC could issue a notice of violation and eventually issue a fine for breaking state sediment control rules.

Details of the problems found Monday were not available, but DHEC said they were similar to those found in March, only on another part of the project site.

It was not clear this week whether Scout, its contractors or others are liable for the violations, but a DHEC spokeswoman indicated that Richland County could be responsible. Scout, in a statement, deferred responsibility to Richland County and the state Commerce Department.

The deficiencies found by DHEC were on parts of the site in which Richland County had obtained permits, agency spokeswoman Laura Renwick said. State and county contractors have been preparing the site for construction. Richland County had no immediate comment.

Recent troubles with stormwater management at the Scout site follow problems contractors encountered with federally protected wetlands while clearing the property last summer.

In 2023, the S.C. Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency questioned the speed at which the site was being cleared and how that was impacting wetlands on the property. The EPA said it found that a creek was being filled before the federal government had issued a wetlands permit.

Project officials said at the time they were going by the rules, but Scout Motors temporarily halted work on the property until the concerns could be addressed. The major issue focused on unauthorized work that might be hurting streams and wetlands.

Some of those concerns were eventually resolved and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit this past January to fill wetlands at the site.

Now, the project has raised more questions about how it is being managed.

In a statement, Scout indicated that the state and county — which recruited the motor company — are responsible for the problems.

“State and county officials have responsibility for overseeing site preparation work on the construction site, and Scout Motors leadership is in regular communication with them and receives frequent updates,’’ the Scout statement said. “We appreciate their diligence in quickly addressing any issues that regulators identify on site, and we remain confident in their ability to safely and successfully complete the extensive site preparation work.”

The S.C. Department of Commerce said in an email to The State that issues have been addressed after heavy rains soaked the area in a short period of time last month. The agency said it appears that the problems DHEC cited Monday “originated off-site,’’ but did not elaborate.

“We are engaging DHEC for their guidance,’’ the Commerce Department statement said. “We have confidence that those executing the construction are mindful of the environment and will continue to take appropriate actions if issues arise.’’

Congaree Riverkeeper Bill Stangler said a project like Scout should have the manpower to monitor equipment meant to prevent sediment pollution and other problems.

Sediment runoff into streams from a project site can have severe impacts on fish, animals and plant life. It can choke fish and other aquatic life, Stangler said. And sediment can pick up other pollutants as it travels down a waterway, carrying more contaminants along the way, he said.

Gordon Fuller, a Blythewood resident who lives close to the site, said the chocolate-milk colored water in a pond and creek don’t speak well of the Scout project work.

Fuller alerted DHEC to the problems the agency noted in early March. In late March, he also took drone footage of a muddy pond directly behind his house and he shot a photo from a bridge over a creek.

“All we want is for whoever is doing the work to follow the plan, to follow the permit requirements,” Fuller said. “Obviously they’re not controlling the runoff because the runoff is finding its way off the plant and into public waterways,”

DHEC records show that on March 12,the agency identified seven separate violations. Among the problems:

• A sediment basin, which is supposed to keep mud and dirt on site, was missing an emergency spillway, a key part of the runoff control system

• Unstable soil along Beasley Creek and a lack of silt fencing. Silt fences are used at sites where land is cleared to keep mud from running off the property during rain storms.

• Dams needed to control runoff were not big enough and did not use the right materials

• Topsoil from uprooted wetlands was not stabilized to prevent it from running off the land

DHEC outlined the problems in a March 19 letter to Richland County’s economic development office. The letter said the site was rated unsatisfactory for part of the drainage and grading. The project is in a Richland County industrial park.

DHEC said excess silt outside the property needed to be removed and any disturbed soil needed to be “stabilized immediately.’’

The Scout project is a historic economic development effort for South Carolina and Richland County. The $2.8 billion project could bring as many as 4,000 jobs to the Columbia area as Scout builds electric sport utility vehicles. The company hopes to begin production by 2027 and eventually manufacture about 200,000 vehicles annually.

Scout is part of Volkswagen. Gov. Henry McMaster has been a champion of companies like Scout that manufacture electric vehicles, which are less polluting than gasoline-powered cars and are considered by many to be the future of the automotive industry.

Environmentalists have been enthused about the electric vehicle plant, but at the same time concerned that the site work has not avoided wetlands and creeks.