EDENTON, N.C — The North Carolina Division of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) has been notified after 33,000 gallons of untreated wastewater were discharged in Edenton on Saturday, town officials said.
According to the town's Facebook page, the discharge occurred for about an hour due to heavy rain and flash flooding.
"The untreated wastewater was discharged via the Queen Anne Creek and Filbert’s Creek tributaries to Edenton Bay," the town said in its Facebook post.
Here's a breakdown from the town:
- An estimated 9,000 gallons were discharged at the 200-300 blocks of East Water Street into Queen Anne Creek.
- An estimated 6,000 gallons were discharged at the 400-1100 blocks of North Broad Street into Filbert’s Creek,
- 9,000 gallons were discharged at the 0-700 blocks of North Granville Street into Filbert’s Creek
- An estimated 9,000 gallons were discharged at the 100-300 blocks of West Queen Street into Filbert’s Creek.
North Carolina law requires that the owner or operator of any wastewater collection or treatment works to issue a press release when an untreated wastewater discharge of 1,000 gallons or more reaches surface waters.
In a comment, the town said "This can sometimes occur when massive amounts of rainfall overwhelm collection infrastructure. We received nearly 2.5 inches of rain in an hour yesterday! When that combined with existing saturation, it prompted a Flash Flood Warning and the discharge occurred. We will continue as always to work towards improving our existing systems."
As of Sunday, NCDEQ had not issued any type of advisories.
