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# South Carolina PFAS Problems Persist Across Pee Dee Farms
- URL: https://www.theamericanquorum.com/state-news-south-carolina-2026-10-21-a/
- Published: 2026-10-21T22:25:14.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-21T22:25:14.000Z
- Description: A new investigation finds PFAS contamination still affects soil, groundwater and crops in South Carolina’s Pee Dee, highlighting gaps between site testing, drinking-water safeguards and a broader farmland cleanup strategy.
- Author: News Desk
- Tags: Policy, South Carolina

A new investigation published Wednesday found that “forever chemical” contamination remains a problem in South Carolina’s Pee Dee farming region years after government agencies began responding to polluted wells and fields. [The State reported](https://www.thestate.com/news/local/environment/article317603713.html?ref=theamericanquorum.com) that PFAS are still present in soil, groundwater and crops around Society Hill, while residents face a slow, fragmented cleanup process.

The contamination is tied to the former Galey & Lord textile-finishing plant in Society Hill. According to the [South Carolina Department of Environmental Services](https://des.sc.gov/community/community-engagement/environmental-sites-projects/pfas-soil-investigation-black-creek-elementary-school?ref=theamericanquorum.com), the plant operated from 1966 until it was abandoned in 2016\. Wastewater sludge from its treatment system was routinely spread on agricultural land across three counties. The Environmental Protection Agency placed the plant itself on the federal Superfund list in 2022, but investigations extend beyond the mill property because the sludge was dispersed.

Evidence from farm fields has added to the concern. [Research reported in February](https://www.thestate.com/news/local/environment/article314696628.html?ref=theamericanquorum.com) found elevated PFAS in seven agricultural fields in Darlington County and detections in 15 fields tested by Yale researchers. Seven exceeded a soil benchmark used by Maine, one of the few states with such limits. South Carolina has not established a comparable safety threshold for PFAS in farm soil, leaving landowners without a simple state standard for deciding how contaminated land should be used.

The state’s 2026 investigation at Black Creek Elementary School illustrates both the reach of the historic sludge application and the importance of site-specific risk assessments. SCDES said the school was built on former farmland that had received some Galey & Lord biosolids. Sixty-eight soil samples found three PFAS compounds above EPA residential screening levels, which triggered further review. The state and EPA ultimately concluded that the measured concentrations did not create an immediate exposure concern or excess long-term cancer or noncancer risk for students and staff. Screening-level exceedances, officials emphasized, are a prompt for evaluation rather than proof of an unsafe exposure.

The regulatory challenge is broader than one Superfund site. The [EPA says sewage sludge can contain PFAS](https://www.epa.gov/biosolids?ref=theamericanquorum.com) received by treatment plants from industrial facilities, landfills and homes. The agency released draft risk-reduction guidance for PFOA and PFOS in biosolids on July 1, but draft guidance does not by itself establish a final national cleanup program for every affected farm.

For drinking water, South Carolina has a more defined response. [SCDES says it is assessing public systems, surface water and private wells](https://des.sc.gov/programs/bureau-water/and-polyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas?ref=theamericanquorum.com), and it offers free PFAS testing to residents with private drinking-water wells. Federal drinking-water limits provide enforceable benchmarks for certain compounds, but they do not resolve questions about crop uptake, soil use, property value or compensation.

That division explains why the Pee Dee issue persists despite years of sampling. Agencies can test individual wells, assess a school parcel and investigate the former factory, yet farmers still face uncertainty across a wider patchwork of sludge-treated fields. Wednesday’s reporting puts the central policy gap back in view: South Carolina has more data than it did several years ago, but no single, comprehensive framework for evaluating and restoring all affected agricultural land.