Helene ruined water treatment plant in rural NC county

SPRUCE PINE - Mitchell County officials are still battling to restore potable water to most of the sparsely populated county as one of its primary wastewater treatment facilities remains inoperable. The timeline for repairs and replacement is unknown.

Water has returned to some parts of the county and electricity has been restored to 90% of residents, Mitchell County Manager Allen Cook told the Citizen Times Oct. 18. Water services in Bakersville remain relatively uninterrupted, with the town lifting a boil water advisory for the town the week of Oct. 14.

However, Spruce Pine, the largest town in the county of just over 15,000 residents, faces larger problems. While some water has returned to parts of town, its wastewater treatment plant located just north of Main Street, is entirely out of operation after the disastrous floodwaters from Tropical Storm Helene, Cook said. The storm hit the Western North Carolina mountains and river valleys Sept. 27, washing away homes and businesses and taking dozens of lives.

The wastewater plant serves several thousand in Spruce Pine, along with multiple Mitchell County schools and some county residents. The lack of service means that wastewater is likely ending up in rivers and streams when residents flush, Cook said.

"That water is going into our local streams and rivers when it's coming through," Cook said. "We've been trying to do an education campaign: 'Do not flush.'"

The treatment facility has seen two buildings float away, and the remaining treatment tanks take on a gangrenous green color. Since the facility was built directly on the river, the water reached just a few feet from the top of the tanks, as indicated by a stark water line. Directly adjacent to the wastewater facility, several houses had been destroyed by the flood.

Wastewater in streams increases the spread of disease and bacteria and damages human and animal environments, including long-term damage to connecting rivers, according to the Water Science School of the United States Geological Survey. Residents should take heed when approaching or working in water and streams that could be contaminated by the flood.

"Generally, in a post-storm environment, residents should use caution when interacting with any unknown substance," said Josh Kastrinsky, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality spokesperson.

On Oct. 18, the NCDEQ announced that the agency will offer low-interest loans to help local governments restore water and wastewater treatment facilities. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, at the request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has also provided aid to address wastewater treatment facilities with over 250 engineers and contractors providing support to 25 counties in North Carolina.

Currently, Cook said that the alternative to wastewater treatment is that Spruce Pine will receive two "temporary" sewage treatment facilities, but noted that officials are not yet going to give a timeline as full restoration is "a little ways out there."

For those who are served by the wastewater treatment site and are unable to access water, the county is suggesting that residents visit various mobile sites. Services include shower and toilet services at multiple locations across the county, including in Spruce Pine at Harris Middle School. Schools serviced by the Spruce Pine water treatment facility will have to receive mobile toilet services to provide restrooms to their children, Cook said.

Progress has been made to restore non-potable water to Spruce Pine, as the town remains under a boil water advisory due to broken lines, Cook said.

On Beaver Creek Road, where the town's main water reservoir is located, county workers have been rebuilding bridges, parts of the road and reestablishing connections to the reservoir. The reservoir had trees fall into it, but otherwise, damage seemed to be minimal, Cook said.

Along the road, a path of damage was left by Beaver Creek. Several homes were destroyed as the small stream turned into a rushing river that damaged homes and local infrastructure. Janet Wiseman had holed up in her family home during the flood, watching as neighbors' cars, homes and trash floated down the creek.

"First I saw his firewood, and then I saw the tin off of his house," Wiseman said of one of her neighbors' houses that floated down the road. "And then it made a new creek in the yard. I had never seen it do that before."

The home, first her grandmother and grandfather's, has been in her family for almost 100 years, she said. As the caretaker and only tenant, she felt a need to "protect" the house as Helene hit. Though one of her neighbors lost their house, her familial home received minor damage.

Others along the road, including siblings Lucy Chavez and David Chavez, had to find other solutions as the flood damaged both Lucy's apartment and her car, making it difficult to navigate the rural, sparse county.

During that time, her toilet overfilled and spewed sewage back into her apartment, she said. When both water and power were out early on after the flood, they had to resort to filling up buckets from the stream — likely contaminated debris and wastewater dredged up by the flood — in order to help friends and neighbors flush toilets.

More:Reports of missing children in Spruce Pine are false, county says

While water treatment infrastructure remains a concern, early restoration and remediation efforts for businesses along Locust Street — a main avenue in Spruce Pine — have begun. The buildings have now been mostly gutted as Locust Street businesses were largely wrecked by the flood.

People of all walks of life have aided in recovery efforts. Business owners and church groups collaborated as groups of high school age kids pitch in on the clean-up. Mennonite groups from Pennsylvania even came to clean up the small town.

Nate Schlabach, owner of Sweet Creek Construction, said his company had helped bring the groups together with aid of Plain Compassion Crisis Response, a faith-based humanitarian aid nonprofit. One church on the road, Ark of Western North Carolina, gave out food to volunteers as a day of hard work digging out mud wrapped up on Oct. 7.

One of the property owners, Zan Sistare, had to gut a building he owned. Formerly a craft store and a Thai restaurant, the walls had to be pulled up from where the water had risen in the building. Jimmy Hinshaw, one of his friends who was helping gut the building, said despite many working without power or running water at home, the clean-up was an effort of community coming together.

"Everyone is just joyous about this work," Hinshaw said in black shirt dusted in a brownish mud soot.

By Oct. 11, many buildings along Locust Street had been cleaned out and debris placed in an alcove along the road. A dry, thick and ugly smelling dust from the flood washed over the town and freshly placed porta potties — likely the only functioning bathrooms along the road — sat near the building Sistare owned.

As FEMA begins to provide resources to small businesses and residents affected by the floods, Spruce Pine's journey back to normal water service is likely going to be long, Cook said. While it's unclear how long it will take to install the temporary wastewater treatment plants, after installation, they'll likely have to be there for "three to five years" as the county works to establish a new plant.

"Think about it this way: We've got plenty of water," Cook said. "But, if you're pushing all that water out into a system that has no treatment, you've got environmental problems on one hand and health problems on the other hand."

Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at [email protected]. Consider supporting this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.