At first look it seemed like an ordinary sewage spill. Bad smell was the first clue something was wrong, and upon closer inspection, oops! Someone better call the city. No harm - No foul, right?

From the Charlotte Observer:

Damaged sewage pipe in south Charlotte causes 4,440 gallon overflow, officials say.

Crews responded to a wastewater overflow in south Charlotte that caused an estimated 4,440 gallons of sewage to reach the Four Mile Creek, officials said. The overflow happened on Saturday in the 4700 block of Andrews Links Street, according to a release from Charlotte Water. A large rock fell on a wastewater pipe near the creek and caused the overflow. Four Mile Creek is in the Catawba River Watershed. 

But wait, where did they say the sewage went? Four Mile Creek so says the City of Charlotte.  But that's not exactly true.

Unfortunately, the flow of sewage doesn't go directly to Four Mile Creek, it goes straight into the TPC Piper Glen Mitchell Pond Number Six. Which is the home to a nesting pair of protected American Bald Eagles. (Map of the Area)

The Eagles use the pond as a primary food source. They are also currently incubating two, possibly three eggs due to hatch sometime next month.

The spill is large enough to create concern not only for the health of the eagles but for the fish and waterfowl that call the Mitchell Pond home.

While the press release issued by the city seems to be somewhat deceptive Charlotte Water explained their statement as follows:

"We use the creek basin or tributary name for reporting which creek it would flow into. It flows into Mitchell Pond but that appears to drain into Four Mile Creek. By keeping with the creek or main tributary names it allows us to better query spills by data later or as needed."

Unfortunately, wildlife in Charlotte, North Carolina can't catch a break. Our infrastructure is well over capacity and the system is under tremendous strain. Water main, sewer and stormwater failures are happening daily. Repair crews are dealing with an ever increasing backlog of ongoing and nearly continuous repair needs. The last thing South Charlotte needs is another apartment complex adding to an already massive problem. 

You can help. Contact Charlotte City Council, Mayor Vi Lyles and Members of the Zoning Committee and tell them we need Smart Growth in South Charlotte and to VOTE NO on the Rea Road Gillespie rezoning request.  You can find a our sample letter and email addresses are here.

City staff tell us that repairs will be made sometime this week. We will follow up with the city and have asked North Carolina Wildlife for comment.