In 2020, one of the world’s largest car battery makers filed for bankruptcy and gave up its former plant in Greer, S.C.
While there’s little left of the old plant, there’s an invisible legacy it left behind.
To make its batteries, the company used lead, an element that can wreak havoc on the human body.
Inside the plant, employees were exposed to levels of lead well above the federal limit, records showed. Lead seeped into the soil and around the plant and, at times, clouds of lead dust would flow into the air, toward nearby neighborhoods.
Reporter Stephen Hobbs shares what he learned about this plant’s toxic legacy through dozens of interviewers with former workers and people who lived near the plant and a review of more than 10,000 pages of records. Tammy Winkler, a former employee at the plant, recalls her experience.
Read the story: A car battery maker gave up the site of old SC plant, leaving behind a toxic legacy
This episode was hosted and edited by Emily Williams and features Post and Courier reporter Stephen Hobbs.
Understand SC is a weekly podcast from The Post and Courier that draws from the reporting resources and knowledge of our newsroom to help you better understand South Carolina.
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Reach Emily Williams at 843-607-0894. Follow her on Twitter @emilye_williams.
