Bluffton will pay $2.6 million for sewers in Old Town. Will it protect the May River?
Residents and visitors in Old Town Bluffton will see heavy construction crews over the coming months.
The town plans a $2.6 million project to move the majority of properties in Old Town Bluffton to public sewer from septic systems.
The project, which will be in six phases and is expected to be fully complete in 2024, will install sewers between Pritchard Street and Verdier Cove along the May River. The goal is to protect the tidal embayment, a part of life for most Bluffton residents, from runoff and pollution.
“This project directly supports the town’s May River Watershed Action Plan by protecting the town’s surrounding rivers and watersheds from failed septic tank run-off,” Mayor Lisa Sulka said. “This project will connect residents, who are located in close proximity to the May River, to public sanitary sewer lines.
Last fall, a study conducted by the University of South Carolina-Beaufort found that fecal coliform bacteria levels have been rising in the May River for the past two decades and, in some parts, are above what is considered safe for shellfish harvesting.
The study, commissioned by Bluffton and Beaufort County and led by Eric Montie, an associate professor of biology at USCB, and graduate student Jamileh Soueidan, looked at water quality data collected by the S.C. Department of Environment Health and Control from shellfish monitoring stations along the May River. The study found that Bluffton’s building and population boom over the past 20 years has led to increased stormwater runoff, lowering the salinity in the May River and causing fecal coliform to thrive.
One possible source of the bacteria, Montie said in November, could be human waste from septic tanks. In an ideal world, Montie said, all septic systems would be converted to sewer systems.
For the first phase of the project, Jordan Construction of Hilton Head Inc. will install 2,550 linear feet of main sewer lines on Pritchard Street in Bluffton’s Historic District. The project will move 25 properties from septic to sewer. It’s expected to cost $739,830, according to town documents.
The 25 septic tanks along Pritchard Street will be “abandoned,” which involves filling the failed tanks with dirt, Bluffton’s director of engineering, Bryan McElwee, said.
“If a septic tank fails, you have human waste flowing into a cove,” he said. “If we can get people off septic tanks, then that’s eliminating a source of contamination.”
The May River, a tidal embayment which flows along Old Town’s southern border, is a source of food, a site for recreation, a salve for the soul. It is one of Beaufort County’s 12 Outstanding Resource Waters — bodies of water that provide an important recreational or ecological resource.
Many longtime Blufftonians laud the river’s oysters as the best in the area.
“These homes are not a part of a planned community and therefore did not have the advantage of pre-planned infrastructure,” Sulka said. “This project, along with the town’s past and future sewer projects, provides environmental protection to the town’s most cherished natural resources.”
The first phase of the project is funded through stormwater utility fees of $225,930, a South Carolina appropriation grant of $95,950 and a portion of a DHEC grant totaling $191,551, according to a town news release. The first phase is scheduled to be completed in mid-winter.
Bluffton received a total of $365,558 from DHEC to complete the entire project, according to the release. The rest of the project will be completed in phases:
▪ Phase 2 is projected to cost $410,690 and will install sewer along Bridge Street between Wharf Street and the end of the road.
▪ Phase 3, projected at $161,250, will install sewer along Colcock Street between Bridge Street and the end of the road.
▪ Phase 4, projected at $141,125, will install sewer along Lawrence Street between Boundary Street and Heyward Cove.
▪ Phase 5, projected at $126,000, will install sewer along Green Street between Boundary Street and Heyward Cove.
▪ Phase 6, project at $156,250, will install sewer along Water Street between Huger Cove and Heyward Cove.
This story was originally published August 5, 2020 at 4:45 AM.
