When you visit Conestee Nature Preserve, you can explore miles of trails where you might see wildlife such as deer, beavers, and even river otters — all amid the tranquility of one of the area’s most beloved natural settings.
But lurking beneath the waters of Lake Conestee, a little way downstream from the preserve, rests a peril many believe is a disaster waiting to happen: perhaps as much as 3.25 million cubic yards of sediment containing toxic metals like chromium and mercury, and other harmful chemicals like PCBs and pesticides. Those contaminants, confirmed by sampling conducted 20 years ago according to DHEC, are the result of more than a century of industrial pollution dumped into the Reedy River by textile and other manufacturers, which settled out in the waters held back by Lake Conestee Dam.
The dam was built more than 130 years ago and has been slowly deteriorating for decades, and fears of the dam’s failure are adding urgency to a push to secure state funding for a $47.5 million plan to build a new dam and prevent disaster.
The new dam would be built 10 feet downstream from the original and be anchored into the bedrock. Designed to meet modern engineering standards, the new structure would last well into the next century, according to Kelly Lowry, a private attorney from Spartanburg representing the state Department of Health and Environmental Control for the project.
Lowry briefed local leaders about plans for a new dam earlier this month at a meeting of Greenville County Council.
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If the dam were to fail, he says the impact could be severe and cost millions — if not billions — of dollars in physical and environmental damage. The contaminated sediment would make its way downriver for years, eventually ending up in Boyd Mill Pond and Lake Greenwood, causing untold human and ecological harm.
DHEC confirms drinking water for an entire region would be contaminated, as Lake Greenwood is the main source for thousands of nearby residents.
Without the dam, Conestee Nature Preserve would also lose a lot of species attracted to the wetlands at the preserve due to water levels.
“If we didn’t have the dam, we’d have a much drier preserve area and we would lose a lot of species that love the wetlands,” says Gene McCall, an attorney working for the Conestee Foundation, which owns Conestee Nature Preserve.
Lowry says there’s no way to know whether such a disaster is imminent.
“It is a 100% complete unknown,” he says.
But the risk is real, as DHEC rated the dam “poor” with “numerous active seeps and deterioration” in 2022.
Funding for the dam project was approved this session by the state House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, but the Senate Finance Committee has yet to vote on the matter.
In 2022, $3 million was allotted from the budget to perform a study by the Kleinschmidt Group to define the problem and recommend solutions for the dam. That money is being used for initial planning but is insufficient to begin construction.
“The $3 million that we got last year is being used right now to create the schematic design, do all the footwork that has to happen before including qualifying contractors who would be doing the actual work,” Lowry says.
