Here’s a look at health and environmental news around South Carolina.

Environmental testing to occur at abandoned SC mill site

LYMAN, S.C. (WRAL.com) Environmental testing could start by the end of the month at an abandoned mill in South Carolina to determine how best to clean it up.  Lyman officials hope the 50-acre (8 hectare) property could be redeveloped to bring new life to an area that has become an eyesore after the plant closed in 2005.

‘I paid my bill of $36 and left’: SC woman spotted opossum inside restaurant during meal

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS.com) Customers at a Columbia area restaurant recently received an unexpected visit at the bar. A South Carolina woman says she and her family noticed an opossum under the counter at Applebee’s on Fernandina Road Friday night. Needless to say, the woman was less than thrilled by the possum’s appearance.

Experts say the opioid epidemic is putting people at risk for Hepatitis C infections

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBFNews.com) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates nearly 2.4 million Americans live with Hepatitis C. Studies show there’s a link between the infectious disease and the opioid epidemic. In South Carolina, the number of diagnosed cases has gone up since 2010.  Hepatitis C is most commonly spread through injection drug use. The CDC reports in 2012, there were around 3,300 cases of Hepatitis C in the Palmetto State. That number nearly doubled in 2018 with a little over 6,400 cases of chronic Hepatitis C, with the rate of approximately 127 per 100,000 people.