Summer brings lots of folks outside to swim in Columbia’s rivers. And behind all the fun in the sun and days spent on the water are one man and his organization keeping the rivers clean and the water safe.
Meet Bill Stangler, the current Congaree Riverkeeper.
In summer 2008, Stangler was working as a local river guide when he noticed a lot of his customers and coworkers getting sick. He knew something was wrong with the water, but he didn’t know what.
Enter the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), who investigated further and found the cause of the sickness was a company which had been dumping sewage and waste into the river. However, all they could do was fine the company, who paid the cost of doing business and went on with it…