South Carolina man charged with threatening city water supply
A man threatened to poison the water supply of SC capital city; police take threat seriously after quantities of hydrochloric acid are found illegally buried in his back yard
Police in South Carolina yesterday charged 60-year old Robert Russell Bowers with threatening to poison the capital city’s water system with hydrochloric acid. The toxic material was illegally buried in a hole in his backyard. The discovery of the acid in Bowers’s backyard led to the evacuation of about 35 homes for about six hours on Tuesday.
AP reports that Bowers claimed the acid would poison the city’s water system and blow up three city blocks, police said. He was charged with violating the South Carolina Pollution Control Act and communicating threats, both felonies. He could be sentenced to between one and ten years in prison for each charge if convicted. Bowers made the threats over the course of several months but did not warrant a response until the chemical were found, said Harold Reaves, a city Homeland Security official.
Hydrochloric acid, which is commonly used in swimming pools and to clean bricks and concrete, did not pose a serious threat to anyone, he said.
