Piper Glen's Schitt's Creek Sewage Concerns Continue

City of Charlotte Water contractors, EL Price and Pipe Pros, LLC continue to work on the broken city sewer pipe section that had dumped more than 4,400 gallons of raw sewage into Piper's Glen's Mitchell Pond Number Six nearly two weeks ago. 

Schitt's Creek Pipe Glen Repairs

Contrary to Charlotte Water's press release the sewage spill did not go directly into Four Mile Creek but flowed down, what shall now and forever be known by local residents as
"Schitt's Creek", and directly in to the Mitchell Pond Number Six.

Schitt's Creek Piper Glen

The three acre pond is home to dozens of species of waterfowl and the primary food source for our two nesting American Bald Eagles named Piper and Glen.

Charlotte Water assures residents that they are doing all they can to mitigate the damage including using water from fire hydrants to "flush" the sewage and spreading lime to help neutralize any residual human waste.

While they work to repair the broken pipes the raw sewage is being piped between manholes using a 5 inch fire hose.

Upon inspection of Schitt's Creek on Wednesday the amount of silt and mud in the water also is a concern. With only a .33 of an inch of rain yesterday Schitt's Creek was a torrent of rushing muddy silt filled water. Runoff from the I-485 Express Toll Lanes continues to degrade the water quality of the pond as well as Four Mile Creek.

Schitt's Creek Piper Glen

The Mitchell Pond became inundated with muddy water in 2021 as construction of the I-485 toll lanes began. The issue was brought to the attention of NCDOT and after about a year of finger pointing the problem has been somewhat corrected. But silt fences continue to fail allowing mud to flow into the creek.

Stormwater systems are intended to route rainwater quickly off the streets during a heavy storm. Unfortunately, these systems also carry pollutants such as pesticides, bacteria and chemicals through city streets and straight to our waters. Stormwater pollution can include chemicals, fast food wrappers, cigarette butts, Styrofoam cups, sewage overflow, cooking oil, bacteria from pet waste, used motor oil, fertilizers, paint and construction debris.

Opinion: Charlotte's explosive growth has put tremendous strain on our stormwater systems and despite a progressive environmental agenda Charlotte's elected officials turn a blind eye to stormwater issues sacrificing water quality in the name of housing diversification and density saturation.