Oil sheen on popular Charlotte greenway creek prompts investigation. Cause revealed.
Cleanup continues in Charlotte’s Little Sugar Creek, days after a citizen spotted an oil sheen while walking along its popular greenway, officials said Friday.
About 20 to 30 gallons of hydraulic oil reached the creek on Monday, Feb. 20, when contractors boring under Morehead Street “experienced an equipment failure,” according to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services news release. The oil reached the creek immediately downstream, near Medical Center Drive, officials said.
The failure released an estimated 150 gallons of the oil, said Rusty Rozelle, Mecklenburg County water quality program manager.
Storm Water Services workers placed floating petroleum booms across the creek at nine sites downstream to where the creek merges with Briar Creek, upstream of Tyvola Road, according to the release.
The booms contain and collect the oil for removal, Rozzelle said.
‘Active environmental cleanup’
Greenway users can see the “small amount of residual material” on Little Sugar Creek that made it past the booms, he said.
“This is an active environmental cleanup that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services will continue to oversee for several more days until the product is removed and conditions restored,” according to Friday’s release.
Officials have detected no negative impacts to aquatic life, and “there are no threats to human health from the discharge,” according to the release.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services credited the greenway user for alerting the department.
“These types of reports of potential pollution problems are essential in our efforts to protect and restore our water resources in Mecklenburg County,” according to Friday’s statement.
How to report strange stuff in creeks
Such reports can also include “dead fish, frogs, crayfish and other aquatic life, discolored water, odors, and any other unusual observations in or around the water body,” according to the news release.
Call 311 or 704-336-7600 7 a.m.-7 p.m. weekdays and 911 during other hours and weekends.
Such reports are instantly relayed to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services, whose workers will immediately respond to the scene, officials said.
When finished, Little Sugar Creek Greenway will have 19 miles of trails and land connectors, from Toby Creek Greenway on North Tryon Street to Cordelia Park just north of uptown, according to Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation. The greenway will continue to the South Carolina line.
This story was originally published February 25, 2023 at 11:40 AM.