An eastern North Carolina environmental group says the 500,000-gallon spill of untreated wastewater in Havelock just over a week ago is believed to be the largest in the town’s history.
Sound Rivers says the spill originated from a broken valve in an underground line that was not supposed to be in operation. The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality is working with the city to determine exactly how much waste was spilled and how much reached the surface waters of the east prong of Slocum Creek.
Cleanup continues, and according to Havelock officials, the challenge will be cleaning up the woods and marsh where most of the sewage settled.
The day following, Havelock officials reported another over flow. This time from a manhole on East Main Street.
Sound Rivers and Havelock officials will hold a public meeting about the ongoing pollution of Slocum Creek in February.
As previously reported by PRE, Slocum Creek is historically a place that fails water quality standards. Slocum Creek failed the Sound Rivers' Swim Guide Test 11 out of 13 times this summer.
Also, the City of Havelock is under a Special Order by Consent with NCDEQ to bolster its sewer infrastructure and prevent sewer overflows. That Special order was signed in 2020 and requires the city to meet a certain timeline for repairs and upgrades. In its 2020-21 wastewater report, the most recent available, the city said most mandated repairs have been made, including replacing pipes along Speight Street and Shepard Street. The city completed a study to identify repairs from Hollywood Boulevard to the Wastewater Treatment Plant. The city had until January 1 to finish all repairs.
Neither of the sites from last week's spills are listed in the Special Order, which requires certain manholes, lines and other projects to be addressed.
