Feb 22 - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - Kelly Marshall Fuller The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C.

 

Georgetown residents who have been affected by repeated flooding along the Santee River are asking that a license given to Santee Cooper by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission be denied.

Barry Marsh, the lead plaintiff in a long-running legal battle with Santee Cooper, said the power company has not compensated property owners for damage done in a flood in 2003.

No efforts have been made to change the method of diverting flood water down the Santee River, even after the property owners won a judgement against the company in 1997, Marsh said.

"Santee Cooper has never tried to do anything," Marsh said. "This thing is at a stalemate."

The license to operate the water rediversion project, also known as Project 199, is part of the regulatory process of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, according Barbara Connors, spokeswoman for the commission.

Santee Cooper filed an application for a new license to operate the project in 2004. The public was notified of the filing in July. Public comment and protests for renewal of the license were accepted after that, Connors said.

"It's to let the public know that this company has filed these documents with the commission," she said.

Officials at Santee Cooper did not return calls Tuesday afternoon seeking comment.

The 14-year legal battle, which once involved about 21 property owners, started when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers first diverted Cooper River water into the Santee to help slow silting in the Charleston Harbor.

The residents say water that has flooded the North Santee in the past is coming from the St. Stephen Hydroplant and the Santee Dam, which is where the flood gates are located.

 

Contact KELLY MARSHALL FULLER at 357-9187 or kmarshall@thesunnews.com [mailto:kmarshall@thesunnews.com].