News

Sound Rivers Water Quality Specialist Taylor Register Seijo has been out in the field of late, tackling her regular rounds of Slocum Creek sampling and a tip called into the hotline pointing to pollution.

The fourth round of Slocum Creek sampling took place last week, part of an ongoing effort to identify remaining sources of pollution in the Neuse River tributary in Havelock. In partnership with the University of North Carolina’s Institute of Marine Sciences, Taylor has been testing six sites in the area of concern, four of which overlap with UNC’s biweekly sampling.

As of early April, the main source of the ongoing pollution — a home in a neighborhood off Wolf Pit Branch that had been straight-piping sewage into the Slocum Creek tributary — appeared to be resolved.

“The past four months have been really consistent, with very little bacteria, certainly below EPA standards, and it’s been consistent all the way down the creek,” Taylor said.

Unlike previous sampling rounds, on this trip, the area had received rain in the days prior, which can lead to runoff and potentially other sources of pollution. Still, the results were promising.

“Even though the samples still ‘failed’ per the EPA’s threshold that we go by, the results we got were significantly lower than what we’ve seen in the past, and were just barely over the threshold,” Taylor said. “Since this was a post-rain sampling run and was the first time this year that we’ve seen elevated numbers here, I’m thinking that the little bit of rain we got flushed out some lingering contamination that was upstream in Wolf Pit from that straight pipe that has since been replaced. Previously, we would see extremely high bacteria levels regardless of rainfall, but now the trend is moving towards smaller spikes after rain.”

At the end of the year, the results from sampling, courtesy of a North Carolina Land and Water Fund grant, will be shared with the community at a public open house.

“We have a ton of data coming in, and we’ll be cross-sharing it, so we’ll have more conclusive evidence about pollution in Slocum Creek,” she said. “We really don’t want to make any big conclusions until the end of the year.”

This week, a tip to Sound Rivers’ hotline had Taylor back in the area, this time check out a reported film on the Lower Neuse right at the mouth of Slocum Creek. The caller was concerned the source was a sewage spill. Though no spills had been reported to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Taylor headed out to investigate.

“I went out on Monday to check out the area and measure water-quality parameters to confirm that things were looking normal, because sewage spills and organic films can look pretty similar — it’s tricky to tell them apart without actually testing the water,” Taylor said. “My readings confirmed normal water conditions for that area and for the lack of rain we’ve been seeing, but we had some strong SW winds in the Havelock area at the end of last week, so that likely kicked up some organic matter and pulled it out into the big water. But even though this turned out to be a normal occurrence, it’s still a good reminder to always send us any unusual sightings on the water. Water-quality issues can sometimes be tricky to tell apart, and we are always more than happy to go out and check on them!”

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