07/25/2021
Read who was and how he served Mount Pleasant. He recent retired from Mount Pleasant Water Works
Clay Duffie and Mount Pleasant Waterworks!
Clay Duffie has been general manager of Mount Pleasant Waterworks since March 1989, and his father held the same job in Saluda, South Carolina.
“My whole career has been all about clean, safe drinking water,” Duffie commented.
Which is why he took it personally in 2017 when a group of local residents, with help and encouragement from environmental activist Erin Brockovich, attacked Mount Pleasant’s water system through social media and at public hearings, claiming that the town’s water was rife with pesticides that might be causing brain cancer in children living on the north side of town.
Duffie said he knew Mount Pleasant’s water supply is safe, but he took the concerns of his customers seriously. He pointed out that the water was tested for 228 possibly harmful compounds by Eurofins of South Bend, Indiana. None of them were found in the Mount Pleasant Waterworks system, which serves the area from the Cooper River to the Santee River but not Awendaw or McClellenville.
In fact, long before the controversy, Mount Pleasant Waterworks was taking 90 samples a month at 270 homes and business around town to make sure the water didn’t contain chlorine, bacteria and other harmful substances.
Duffie pointed out that despite accusations that Mount Pleasant’s water is tainted – and the approximately $100,000 the Waterworks spent to assure the public that the water is safe – something good has come of the controversy.
“This crisis helped us learn how to communicate with customers effectively, and our relationship with the state and the EPA is much better," Duffie said. "We’re very encouraged with that.”
Read the entire article here: https://mountpleasantmagazine.com/2017/people/will-drink-clay-duffie-mount-pleasant-waterworks/
