Environmental Health

The Region 3 Public Health Office’s Bureau of Environmental Health promotes and protects the public's health through environmental regulation, investigation and education. Environmental Health personnel are available in each county to provide direct service to the public in the following areas:

 

Food Protection

All food service facilities must have a valid permit from the department prior toserving food to the public. In addition to restaurants this includes schools, special event vendors, grocery stores, bakeries and delicatessens. We inspect all food service facilities; we issue permits to new businesses and offer training for both new and existing facilities.

Please follow this link for additional Food Protection information.

On-Site Wastewater Disposal

All buildings occupied more than two hours per day must be served by an approved means of sewage disposal. Environmental Health permits and inspects septic tank systems to ensure proper sewage disposal. All proposed lots to be subdivided must have an approved means of sewage disposal.

Please follow this link for additional On-Site Wastewater Disposal information.

Rabies

Reports of animal bites can be FAXED 24 hours a day. For assistance during business hours reports can be submitted by fax or phone: Regional Fax Number : (803) 576-2999

County
Phone
Chester
(803) 385-6152
Chester
(803) 482-6133
Fairfield
(803) 635-6481
Lancaster
(803) 286-9948
Lancaster
(803) 475-3365
Lexington
(803) 791-3580
Newberry
(803) 321-2170
Richland
(803) 576-2980
York
(803) 684-7004
York
(803) 909-7300

 

Please follow this link for additional Rabies information.

Vector Control

We encourage residents of Chester, Fairfield, Lamcaster, Lexington, Newberry, Richland and York counties to notify us if you find a dead crow or blue jay that appears to have recently died for no obvious reason. Also, if you should find a substantial number of dead birds in a cluster together that appear to have recently died for no obvious reason, please notify us. We will then evaluate if the bird needs to be sent to our lab in Columbia for testing.

County
Phone
Chester
(803) 385-6152
Chester
(803) 482-6133
Fairfield
(803) 635-6481
Lancaster
(803) 286-9948
Lancaster
(803) 475-3365
Lexington
(803) 791-3580
Newberry
(803) 321-2170
Richland
(803) 576-2980
York
(803) 684-7004
York
(803) 909-7300

Click here for more information about West Nile Virus.

Other Services

We do inspections of schools, daycares, and foster homes to make sure the overall sanitation levels, lead levels and safety are within acceptable health standards. Hotel / motel, mobile home park, and vector complaints that are related to a public health risk are also investigated upon request. For more information on any of these concerns, please call us at your local county Health Department.