"McCORMICK — Open-pit gold mines have left a toxic and costly legacy for taxpayers in South Carolina, where contamination is seeping into creeks and groundwater two decades after the mines closed.

So far, the public has spent $27.4 million trying to clean up the mess left by gold mines in McCormick and Chesterfield counties, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Atlanta.

But those costs are expected to rise by untold millions before the sites are cleansed and returned to normal – if that’s possible."

Sammy Fretwell reports for the Rock Hill Herald October 14, 2014. [2]