Blue sludge, bottles of acid improperly disposed by Myrtle Beach pool company, DHEC says

Continued violations of the state’s waste disposal regulations has one Myrtle Beach pool contractor in hot water.

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control is seeking a court order to force Active Shotcrete and Plaster, LLP to fully clean up its unpermitted landfill site and pay the department a $6,000 fine.

Representatives for the local swimming pool company did not return messages seeking comment.

A DHEC inspector was first called to the site at 319 Reindeer Moss Court on March 22, 2022 in response to a complaint, and they found solid waste debris, including a 55-gallon jug of an unknown blue sludge substance, on the ground, according to court filings.

The site was found cleaned a week later, but Horry County Fire Rescue personnel filed a new complaint with DHEC on March 3, 2023 after responding to a fire there and finding two piles of burning waste, including muriatic acid bottles, the complaint states.

Muriatic acid, also known as hydrochloric acid, is often found in pool chemicals and can be poisonous if inhaled or ingested, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

DHEC inspectors continued to find various debris on the ground and mixed into the soil during follow-up inspections during March and April, according to the complaint, before a May 1 inspection found the Myrtle Beach site mostly cleaned.

Just four days later, though, an inspector noticed waste debris present at the edges of freshly spread soil, indicating the waste was likely being buried, not an approved method of disposal, DHEC noted.

A company official later signed a consent order in August with the department, not disputing its findings of various violations, that required all remaining solid waste removed and payment of the civil penalty within 30 days.

But Active Shotcrete and Plaster, LLP has not complied with that order as of Jan. 16, according to DHEC’s complaint.