Lawyer: Santee Cooper to Pay SC Landowners $200M

A federal judge has ordered a South Carolina-owned utility to pay seven landowners in the eastern part of the state a settlement that could amount to close to $200 million.

In an order filed Friday, U.S. District Judge Patrick Duffy finalized his ruling that flooding from a Santee Cooper dam built on the Santee River nearly 25 years ago permanently damaged the property in rural areas of Georgetown, Berkeley and Williamsburg counties.

The utility must pay the landowners $55 million for the damages and 8 percent interest for 23 years — since the land first began to flood.

The landowners' lawyer, Ed Bell, says the total judgment could reach nearly $200 million.

Bell says the dam facility still continues to flood the land when there are heavy rains upstream.

(This version CORRECTS APNewsNow. corrects amount of damages utility ordered to pay out.)

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