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Hartwell Water Quality

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Hartwell Water Quality
Authors: Jacob Edwards, Cameron Londergan, Peyton Mills, Alex Moore, Caleb Nesbitt Water Quality of Lake Hartwell Lake Hartwell and the accompanying dam built on the Savannah River, were built between the years 1955-1963 and 1955-1959, respectively, by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The man-made lake was constructed for the purpose of producing hydro-power and as a navigation project, but now its purpose has evolved to include wild-life habitats, water quality, and general recreation. Although the two construction projects costed an estimated $89 million to complete, they have together prevented roughly $101,998 in flood damages. Additionally, on average the hydro-power generated from Lake Hartwell totals 470,000 megawatts a year. Historically, Lake …show more content…
PCB’s are polychlorinated biphenyls which are manufactured organic chemicals that contain 209 individual chlorinated chemicals that are known as congeners. They are man-made materials that have been in use since the 1930s but they were banned by the federal government in 1976. The announcement of the EPA about the fish in Lake Hartwell sank businesses overnight, campers left campsites around the lake, and swimmers found other places to swim in. The visitation to the lake was decreased by half after the EPA announcement, and a $1 billion class-action law suit was launched which was bait-shop owners against Sangamo. Over $100,000 million has been spent on the cleanup of Lake Hartwell but the cleanup will still take decades to come. The water was still being drunk by people though because environmental engineers said that PCB’s cling to sediment, and the EPA added the Sangamo plant to its national priority list in 1990. PCB’s decay at different rates because they depend on the amount of chlorine in them, and the long-term effects of them are not fully understood which is why

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