On behalf of Jasen Kizer, pretreatment coordinator in Ansen County: 

We have an industry closing and they have aerated two ponds that were part of their pretreatment system (the ponds are already connected to the sewer system).  It was a textile plant for over 100 years and the wastes remaining in the ponds are mainly dyes, including metals of copper, zinc, cadmium, and nickel. There is sludge in the bottom of the ponds.

The walls of the ponds are concrete, not sure what the bottom of the ponds are made of.  The industry has questions regarding what course of action they should take about closing them down permanently and properly. The current or possible future owners would need to empty them and have them covered? Or done away with entirely? We can't plug the line because then rainwater would eventually fill them up and spill. We haven’t really encountered this before. Maybe someone else out there has and could share any experience they had with it.