Broken pipe near RDU sends 1.1 million gallons into creek
A failed bypass pipe near RDU spilled 1.1 million gallons, then a contractor error pushed sewage into Turkey Creek and toward Crabtree Creek.
A failed sewer bypass near Raleigh-Durham International Airport sent about 1,143,800 gallons of untreated wastewater into a construction area, then a separate contractor mistake pushed part of it beyond the site and into Turkey Creek.
Raleigh Water said the spill began around 8:21 a.m. Tuesday near 2800 Airport Boulevard and 2800 John Brantley Boulevard, where crews working on RDU’s runway project were using a temporary bypass tied to a larger sewer main serving the Brier Creek pump station. The failure involved a joint in that temporary bypass pipe. Most of the wastewater was first held in excavated pits on airport property, but during cleanup a contractor mistakenly discharged some of it into a storm drain along Glenwood Avenue instead of sending it into the sanitary sewer system.
That second error is what turned a construction failure into a wider downstream problem. Water reached Turkey Creek, with the spill also affecting the Glenwood Avenue and Lynn Road corridor and raising concerns for nearby Brier Creek and the drainage network that feeds Crabtree Creek. By Wednesday evening, Raleigh Water said no fish kill or vegetative damage had been observed, but cleanup was expected to take days and officials were still working to determine how much of the spill had reached surface waters.
The public health risk is not theoretical. Sewage can carry bacteria and other contaminants that make direct contact with affected water unsafe. Samantha Krop, the Neuse Riverkeeper with Sound Rivers, has warned that people should avoid coming into contact with contaminated creeks until testing shows the water is clear. Raleigh Water also said the city’s drinking water was not threatened because it comes from Falls Lake and is treated separately from local creeks.
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and the Division of Water Resources were notified and conducted site visits. The spill is now drawing scrutiny not just because of its size, but because of the chain of mistakes that let a problem near the runway travel miles beyond the original break point. RDU says the wastewater spill happened during work on its primary runway replacement, a project tied to Transform RDU and Vision 2040 that includes a new 10,639-foot runway, is expected to take about five years and will cost more than $500 million.
It is also a reminder that wastewater problems around the airport are not new. A previous RDU sewer overflow in 2003 sent untreated wastewater into Brier Creek Reservoir after heavy rain, a history that makes this latest break harder to dismiss as a one-off failure.
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