Ducks displaced by Little Sugar Creek oil spill return home

Eight ducks that survived 1,000 gallons of oil surging into their home waddled back into the waters of Charlotte’s Little Sugar Creek on Thursday, flapping their feathers and slowly dabbling their bills beneath the surface.

A contingent of waterfowl rescuers gathered at the banks of the creek in Freedom Park and released the mallards back into the wild a month after oil wreaked devastation on their natural habitat.

In a matter of seconds, the ducks flew from human hands and buoyed on the water until they were out of sight, quacking as they went. “Today, we’re here to celebrate ... the Freedom Park ducks will be home for Christmas,” said Mark Boone, spokesman for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services.

It was a serene ending to a tale with a grim beginning.

Carolina Waterfowl Rescue, the Indian Trail-based nonprofit that released the ducks Thursday, freed about 20 mallards from contaminated waters last month after an emergency generator at the NASCAR Plaza building in uptown spilled fuel into a storm drain that emptied into the creek.

The oil flowed 4 miles south from uptown to the Park Road Shopping Center, and emanated a strong odor that lingered over the creek’s greenway for days. Sheen from the spill could be seen as far south as Pineville and into South Carolina, Boone said.

Officials haven’t yet fined Parkway Properties, the commercial real estate firm that owns the NASCAR building and is liable for the cleanup, he said. Before penalties can be assessed, the company must turn over invoices showing how much it spent on the actual cleanup.

Cassie Zingery, managing partner for Parkway Properties in Charlotte, said the firm is waiting to collect invoices from SWS Environmental Services, the remediation company it hired to clean the creek.

The cleanup finished Dec. 7, and was followed by a compliance inspection with the city of Charlotte four days later, she said.

Company officials determined the spill started when a switch on the building generator failed to shut off and stop diesel from overflowing into a fuel tank, Zingery said. Parkway Properties has since repaired the switch and is working with a manufacturer to determine if any new measures should be put in place.

“It’s been a very unfortunate situation and we hate that it happened,” she said, adding that Parkway Properties gave Carolina Waterfowl Rescue a $5,000 donation to help with wildlife rescue efforts. “We’re looking at developing an action plan to put in place at this building to safeguard against” this happening again.

Lucky to be alive

The ducks released Thursday were among the fortunate few that volunteers managed to find, clean and rehabilitate.

“When we first got out here, there were dead ducks everywhere,” said Jennifer Gordon, Carolina Waterfowl Rescue’s executive director.

Last month, volunteers twice canvassed the 4 miles of contaminated stream. Alongside it, they found a number of dead birds – 10 in Freedom Park alone – and turtles, many of which died from ingesting the oil that burned their intestines, Gordon said. Others were easy prey for raptors, coyotes, bobcats and other predators.

For waterfowl, death by diesel is slow and painful. The oil burns their skin and feathers, tearing away at the insulation that enables the mallards to regulate their body temperature, Gordon said. Without that protection, they can easily freeze to death.

Rescuers plan to release the other 12 survivors by New Year’s.

“We thought we would kick off the end of the year and start next year with a really good happy ending, and we decided to bring the ducks home for Christmas,” Gordon said. Considering the severity of the spill, she said, “the ones that are alive are really, really lucky.”

This story was originally published December 24, 2015 at 1:26 PM with the headline "Ducks displaced by Little Sugar Creek oil spill return home."