But it wasn’t holiday shopping deals or door-buster savings they were clamoring for, but rather bottled water.
Bothered by headaches, diarrhea and eye irritation, hundreds of residents waited in line to receive cases of water, saying they’ve lost confidence in the quality and safety of the city’s drinking supply.
“The people of Denmark need some clean drinking water,” she said while standing in line with about 30 other residents to receive a couple cases of water for her household of five, which includes children ages 18, 11 and 7.
By Tracy Glantz Lawyer and CNN commentator Bakari Sellers, along with volunteers, distributed about 1,000 cases of bottled water to about 500 households Friday beginning at 10 a.m. By noon, they’d given out the last case.
Another truckload of bottled water from Walmart will be distributed from 5 to 6 p.m. Wednesday from the loading dock in the rear of Denmark Furniture, 199 Coker St., organizers said.
If not used properly in drinking water, the chemical can irritate people’s skin and eyes.
Town and state health officials, however, have stressed tests show the city is in compliance with lead and copper limits in drinking water, and HaloSan was deemed safe by a national certifying agency, even though the EPA had not approved it.
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control told The State the chemical is safe and no one became ill from exposure to HaloSan, regulators say.
Wright said the city has stopped using the well in which the city pumped HaloSan to kill iron slime, and has stopped using the chemical.
“There’s nothing that provides evidence that our water is of poor quality or should have caused any harm to anyone.