Ken Fenner
Active member
Betsy Anderson and her husband, Mel Battle, were walking on the Little Sugar Creek Greenway on Saturday morning when they noticed that nothing in the creek was moving.
"There were just dead fish all over the place," Anderson said.
Hundreds of them died, from Carolinas Medical Center toward Freedom Park, after chemicals that were being used in pressure-washing leaked into the creek, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Stormwater Management officials. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police and the Charlotte Fire Department were alerted early Saturday; a hazardous-materials team tested the water and determined there was "no immediate threat to the public, to workers or to nearby businesses", said Rob Brisley, spokesman for the Charlotte Fire Department.
The fish weren't so fortunate. CMC had hired ValleyCrest Landscape Maintenance to pressure-wash new concrete on its property.
"ValleyCrest violated city and state laws by using an acidic chemical compound as part of its pressure-washing", said Rusty Rozzelle, water quality program manager with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Stormwater Management.
The acidic chemical lowered the pH levels in the water to 6 (7 to 9 is normal for the creek), killing the fish.
"ValleyCrest agreed to remove the dead fish and could face up to a $10,000 fine", Rozzelle said. ValleyCrest officials could not be reached for comment Saturday evening.
"CMC cooperated with authorities to determine the cause", said Debra Pierce, vice president of marketing for CMC.
Commercial pressure-washing is not a violation of drought-related city or county water restrictions, Rozzelle said. But the drought is an aspect of the incident: Low water levels in the creek added to the problem, Rozzelle said. The water flow was not sufficient to dilute the washing chemicals.The pressure-washing lasted 11 hours, dumping the chemical from a stormwater drain near a CMC parking deck that faces the creek. Around noon Saturday, upstream from the drain, the water was clear and fish were alive; downstream, the water was clouded and the fish were dead.)
http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/woalert_read.php?cid=13201&cat=dis&lang=eng
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If this is a repost.. sorry about that. I've never seen it. Is this the incident that caused Charlotte to try and implement the tough initial restrictions?
"There were just dead fish all over the place," Anderson said.
Hundreds of them died, from Carolinas Medical Center toward Freedom Park, after chemicals that were being used in pressure-washing leaked into the creek, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Stormwater Management officials. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police and the Charlotte Fire Department were alerted early Saturday; a hazardous-materials team tested the water and determined there was "no immediate threat to the public, to workers or to nearby businesses", said Rob Brisley, spokesman for the Charlotte Fire Department.
The fish weren't so fortunate. CMC had hired ValleyCrest Landscape Maintenance to pressure-wash new concrete on its property.
"ValleyCrest violated city and state laws by using an acidic chemical compound as part of its pressure-washing", said Rusty Rozzelle, water quality program manager with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Stormwater Management.
The acidic chemical lowered the pH levels in the water to 6 (7 to 9 is normal for the creek), killing the fish.
"ValleyCrest agreed to remove the dead fish and could face up to a $10,000 fine", Rozzelle said. ValleyCrest officials could not be reached for comment Saturday evening.
"CMC cooperated with authorities to determine the cause", said Debra Pierce, vice president of marketing for CMC.
Commercial pressure-washing is not a violation of drought-related city or county water restrictions, Rozzelle said. But the drought is an aspect of the incident: Low water levels in the creek added to the problem, Rozzelle said. The water flow was not sufficient to dilute the washing chemicals.The pressure-washing lasted 11 hours, dumping the chemical from a stormwater drain near a CMC parking deck that faces the creek. Around noon Saturday, upstream from the drain, the water was clear and fish were alive; downstream, the water was clouded and the fish were dead.)
http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/woalert_read.php?cid=13201&cat=dis&lang=eng
-------------------------------------------------------
If this is a repost.. sorry about that. I've never seen it. Is this the incident that caused Charlotte to try and implement the tough initial restrictions?