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What prosecutors say a Saluda wastewater manager hid from regulators
A former senior manager of the Saluda Commission of Public Works pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act after investigators said he allowed untreated sewage to enter the Little Saluda River and falsified water-quality records. John Lorick, 45, of Ninety-Six, oversaw the Town of Saluda’s wastewater treatment plant, which was permitted to discharge treated wastewater into the river, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for South Carolina. Prosecutors said the plant’s chlorination system was not working, but Lorick did not repair it or notify regulators. Without chlorination, the plant could discharge E. coli above permitted limits, the release said. From about 2022 through March 2025, the plant disposed of sludge primarily by discharging raw sewage into the river, according to evidence described by prosecutors in the release. The plant also used bypasses about 10 to 12 times a year beginning in or before 2023, they said. Lorick knew about the bypasses and did not report them to the state, the release said. Lorick diluted compliance samples with tap water and falsified test results to conceal elevated E. coli levels, according to the release. A bypass in July 2025 killed about 1,529 fish found roughly a