Wedding & Event Venue Near Saluda, SC.

An old sewage pipe that for years discharged wastewater into a tributary of the Saluda River has been shut down as part of a more than 30 year-old plan to remove all pollution discharges from the state scenic river.

Lexington officials said the town recently stopped using the pipe from the Watergate treatment plant and Lexington will route sewage to a regional wastewater facility in Cayce.

The effort is a milestone in the long-running effort to protect the lower Saluda from sewage discharges. It marks the third major discharge eliminated from the river in the past five years, leaving only three more to be pulled from the Saluda under the plan.

In this case, the town acquired the Watergate system in 2020 from Blue Granite Water Co,, formerly Carolina Water Service. The idea was to eventually stop the discharge of treated wastewater and send the Watergate waste to the regional system, thereby protecting the Saluda. Discharges were going to Fourteen Mile Creek, one of the lower Saluda’s major tributaries.

“Years and years ago, everyone looked at the lower Saluda and said ‘This is an outstanding water body in our state and we should get rid of the discharges,’‘’ said Bill Stangler, the riverkeeper for the lower Saluda, the Congaree and the Broad rivers. “It’s been real slow progress, but we’ve seen progress pick up in the last several years.’’

In 1990, a special task force recommended eliminating wastewater discharges to the lower Saluda River. A renewed push by river advocates in recent years — including a federal lawsuit — succeeded in getting two other Blue Granite discharges out of the river at Interstate 20 and the Friarsgate community in Irmo.

Those plants discharged treated sewage, which in itself was a concern because river advocates say even treated wastewater contains some pollution. But the plants also regularly violated pollution limits.

In one 2016 case, poorly treated discharges from the Friarsgate plant prompted warnings against swimming in the lower Saluda because the pollution increased chances people would get sick. The warnings lasted for weeks, including the July 4 holiday, a time when kayaking and swimming peaks in the river.

Now, the Watergate discharge has stopped. The Watergate plant, which serves about 1,100 customers, also had its share of spills and leaks, including problems earlier this year.

Wastewater from the 290,000-gallon-per day plant will be routed to the regional system, which will treat the sewage and discharge it into the Congaree. The Congaree, which separates Columbia from Cayce and West Columbia, receives much of the treated sewage from the area.

Unlike the Congaree, the lower Saluda is a state designated scenic river. Running about 10 miles from Lake Murray to the Congaree River, the lower Saluda contains a series of whitewater rapids that attract kayakers from across the South.

The river, fed by frigid water from Lake Murray, is so cold it supports a trout population in an area not historically known for trout, a species common in the southern Blue Ridge mountains. The Saluda is unusual in that it is one of the few places in South Carolina where Spanish moss, a Lowcountry plant, grows along a river that supports trout, a mountain species.

The Watergate discharges have been eliminated as part of an $18 million project, funded in part by the federal American Rescue Plan.

“We are pleased,’’ Lexington town spokeswoman Laurin Barnes said. “This is the culmination of years of work.’’

The discharges that still are targeted for elimination are owned by companies other than Blue Granite.

This story was originally published July 25, 2023, 6:00 AM.

SALUDA COUNTY, S.C. (WIS) - The Saluda County sheriff is telling his county council members and community that he has a serious problem on his hands.

The sheriff says his force is shrinking right before his eyes and he needs help to fix the problem.

Saluda County Sheriff Josh Price says about 25 percent of his force is gone, leaving to take higher-paying jobs.

He says about half of the ones still with the department are working a second job to support their families.

Eleven years as a deputy and the last three years as Saluda County Sheriff, Josh Price says “This is my home. To serve in law enforcement you have to want to help others and that’s what my job is all about helping people.”

In a packed room on Tuesday, June 13, Sheriff Price went before the county council to ask for more money for his department. He says in the last two years, seven of his twenty-seven deputies have left to take higher-paying jobs in other municipalities or jobs like state patrol.

Sheriff Josh Price says, “We are seeing other agencies are paying higher salaries and they’re coming in recruiting our employees because we can’t offer the kind of salaries our surrounding counties do.”

Price says the council did bump up some starting salaries. But did not give money for pay increases across the board for dispatch, patrol, and deputies working in the jail.

The Sheriff adds, “Since I have took office, salaries have been a priority. I’ve had multiple meetings, warning, the county council if we do not step up our pay and pay the men and women who risk their lives every day to keep us safe and give them the salary they deserve we are slowly losing employees, and that’s what is finally starting to happen.”

Council members heard his request but did nothing.

Price says, “I would ask county council to reconsider the budget, special projects that they have already planned that maybe are not a need but are a want for the county. I would like to see an emphasis put on law enforcement in Saluda County. Let’s pay our men and women what they deserve.”

Recently a resolution was passed for a referendum to up the millage rate, which means raising taxes.

It would be for a new EMS and fire service building and to expand the sheriff’s office.

If it passes, Chairman of the County Council Jim Moore says people who own a home that cost one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, their tax increase would be under 500 bucks a year.

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Coach Nancy Jordan leads softball team to Dixie Championships despite of her recent health discovery.

SALUDA, S.C. — A little league softball team from Saluda Angels X-Play Team is fighting for more than a championship. Their head coach Nancy Jordan was diagnosed with cancer last month and rescheduled her surgery for after the playoff.

"I'm not afraid. I tell the girls I'm not afraid," Jordan, the head coach of Saluda Angels X-Play Team. "We will tackle this, we have our faith and we'll move forward and come out better in the end for it."

Coach Nancy was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and had to put off her surgery for the championship game.

"I feel special like all of us feel special because she had surgery that she pushed back just for us," Ava Frye, a player, says.

Players see her sacrifices and kindness on the field and say they also experience it off the field.

"She's one of a kind there's none like her. She would give her shirt off of her back. She puts in countless hours on and off the field for these girls," parent Ashleigh Buzhardt shares. "And her heart is bigger than anyone that I know."

Coach Nancy's husband, a co-coach, believes their shared interest in softball and the team bonds them closer.

"We go home, we talk about softball, we love the game, we love mentoring these young ladies, and being around them," Jeffery Jordan, coach of the Saluda softball team and Nancy's husband, says. "They are truly family to us."

For two players on the roster, their coach's diagnosis hits home.

That's because Nancy's daughters, Nayla and Nicole, are both Saluda softball players.

They say they found this difficult time somewhat bearable because of the family they have formed on the field.

"I felt that I was just hurt. And like so many emotions were going through me. But like there was one thing that I knew," Nayla says. "And it was god had put this plan for us and he had given us this village of people to take care of us and support us."

Coach Nancy and the players continue to lean on faith during difficult times.

"It's just little kids -- they love you so much. They don't know exactly what's going on to the full extent what going on," Coach Nancy explains. "But they know Coach Nancy needs prayers. And they know they love Coach Nancy, and Coach Nancy loves them."

Coach Nancy and her team hope to follow up on their championship win from last year.

The Dixie Softball Championship is set to take place in Tennessee and Louisiana next weekend.

SALUDA, S.C. (WIS) - The suspicious death of a 22-year-old Saluda County man, whose body was found next to a pond over the weekend, has been ruled a homicide.

According to the Saluda County Sheriff’s Office, a hunter discovered Zonnie Cyrus’ body on Hiland Farm Road in Monetta shortly after 11 A.M. Saturday.

RELATED STORY: Saluda Co. coroner identifies man after body found near pond

That is off Padgett Pond Road and about four miles from the Monetta Drive-In Theatre.

The dirt road where Cyrus’ body was found is on private property, and the nearest home is about a third of a mile away.

Brittney Cyrus, Zonnie’s cousin, said she never expected to receive the call that she got this weekend.

She said the loss of her cousin has been eating her up inside, but she is putting her faith and trust in God, hoping to get some answers.

“How could somebody do that to a human being, a child at that?” Brittney said. “He was only 22 years old. How can you do that to somebody? I mean, nobody in this world is perfect, nobody ain’t in this world that’s bright, and that’s going to have all the answers, but the way I look at it, it is hurting and it’s like I never thought in a million years that I would have to go through this.”

Brittney said Zonnie was a good person, always smiling, and willing to drop anything to help friends and family.

She added that he was very passionate about his job at Amick Farms.

“To me, I can’t say R.I.P. to my cousin yet until we got closure all the way,” Brittney said. “And I’m going take my shades off and I want you all to see what you all did to me, and how me and his brother, his daddy feeling. Like y’all really took somebody that I cared about the most and I stayed on top of him to try to keep him focused. And I was proud of him.”

Brittney said she last spoke with Zonnie on Thursday.

“You told me you love me and I loved you back,” she said.

Saluda County Sheriff Joshua Price is promising justice.

“We’re going to work to the fullest extent, everything this office can do to bring justice to this victim and find out who did this,” he said.

He called the incident a tragedy and said he is praying for the Cyrus family.

Brittney is asking the community for help.

“To be talking about my cousin like this and the way how he was dead, it hurts so bad,” she said. “I’m just pleading for anybody that knows anything, just come forward, help my family to get some closure and so we could be at ease and at peace.”

Price told WIS that at this point in the investigation, there’s no evidence to suggest that Cyrus’ death was a drowning.

An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday morning at the Newberry Pathology Group.

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NEWBERRY COUNTY, S.C. (WIS) -Two lost tubers were rescued on the Saluda River Saturday night, The Newberry County Sheriff’s Office (NCSO) said.

Deputies said 911 received a call at 9:33 p.m. about stranded and lost tubers on the Saluda River in the Chappells.

911 Centers in Saluda, Greenwood, and Newberry Counties coordinated utilizing mapping and GIS to get an approximate location.

Deputies said the two tubers had no idea where they were or how far they had come.

Newberry County telecommunicators utilized mapping features in the 911 Center to provide locations to the first responders.

Deputies said it was determined they were in an extremely remote area of the river near the Outfitters development between Chappells and Buzzard’s Roost, where the river makes a huge switchback bend.

NCSO reported DNR officers, deputies, and members of Newberry County Emergency Services hiked to the river and were able to locate them on the opposite bank of the river at 11:41 p.m.

Deputies said a DNR officer and a Newberry County Deputy waded and swam across the river to them and established a line to successfully guide them to the Newberry County side of the river.

Members of the Chappells Rescue Squad and Newberry County EMS gave the two victims medical attention before they were taken to their vehicles at a boat landing near S.C. Hwy 39 at 1:26 a.m. Sunday.

“This was a very difficult situation for first responders due to the conditions and the location. We used technology to locate them, but in the end, it took human resources, to perform a successful rescue. It was a great coordinated effort,” said Sheriff Lee Foster, “My compliments to these brave and resourceful members of our first responder community,” said Sheriff Foster.

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