Sewer spill closes Battery Creek shellfish beds

Shellfish beds in Battery Creek have been closed for harvesting following a sewer spill from a neighborhood off Dowlingwood Drive near Shell Point in Beaufort.

The water overflowed into the marsh Thursday after a power failure on a service line, the Beaufort-Jasper Water & Sewer Authority reported.

Crews from the utility and the state are working to address effects from the spill.

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control has temporarily shut down shellfish harvesting beds in all of Battery Creek from the headwaters to the Parris Island Bridge, according to a DHEC news release.

Three bacteria samples from the water were submitted to DHEC for testing. Results will be reported when they are available, according to a news release from the water utility.

“The affected area will reopen once shellfish tissue samples indicate that bacteria levels are once again suitable for shellfish harvesting,” DHEC shellfish sanitation manager Mike Pearson said in a statement.

Signs will be posted in the area to notify the public about the spill.

If you see or suspect any type of spill from the sewer collection system, contact BJWSA at 843-987-9200.

For more information on clam and oyster harvesting areas in Beaufort County, call DHEC’s local environmental health services office at 843-846-1030.

This story was originally published February 17, 2017 at 9:57 AM with the headline "Sewer spill closes Battery Creek shellfish beds."