High levels of chemical contamination found in Little Sugar Creek

Warning signs are going up at Little Sugar Creek between East 36th and North Brevard streets in NoDa after high levels of cancer-causing chemicals were found in the creek’s waters last month, Mecklenburg County health officials said on Monday.

And though officials don’t believe the contamination poses a significant health risk to the public, the Environmental Protection Agency and N.C. departments of health and human services and hazardous waste are investigating to find the source of the contaminated water.

The chemicals were first detected in late August, when the state Department of Health and Human Services informed Charlotte-Mecklenburg officials of groundwater contamination on Cullman Avenue, off East 36th Street, said Lisa Corbitt, program manager for Mecklenburg County Groundwater and Wastewater Services.

Officials realized the groundwater flow seeped into the creek when employees found traces of trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE) – nonflammable liquids used as solvents and degreasers in commercial and industrial work, such as dry cleaning, gun cleaning and auto repair – in monitoring wells at Little Sugar Creek, Corbitt said. The chemicals are capable of causing cancer through prolonged exposure, inhalation or ingestion.

“There are fairly high levels at both the shallow groundwater level and the deep groundwater level,” Corbitt said.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services then sampled the creek in 14 different locations. Test results showed that the chemicals were up to eight times more than the water quality standard for the creek, water quality manager Rusty Rozzelle said.

“We decided we needed to have this looked at from a health perspective,” he said. “Just keep in mind we’re talking about Little Sugar Creek. This is not a drinking water supply. It is not water that is used for swimming. It is water, at its best, that is used infrequently for wading and maybe some fishing.”

He added: “Human contact with these waters is very, very minimal. This is not a situation where we expect people are going to be getting sick.”

Still, officials decided to make the public aware of the contamination “so that people will know there is an issue there,” he said.

There are no water supply wells near the creek, aside from an inactive irrigation well that was sampled, Corbitt said: “There is no drinking water pathway for this contaminant at this site.”

Rozzelle said rain helps dilute the contamination but groundwater constantly flows into the creek. Once the EPA and hazardous waste department find the source and eliminate it, the water should be restored to normal.

There’s been no evidence of a fish kill or wildlife being impacted. It’s unclear if the contaminated water comes from one source or multiple sources. There’s no estimated timeline or cost for cleanup. And no efforts to contain the chemicals in one area are underway, since past trends have shown the contamination typically flows downstream before dissipating, Rozzelle said.

This story was originally published September 21, 2015 at 11:03 AM with the headline "High levels of chemical contamination found in Little Sugar Creek."