38 sewage spills in NC watersheds as Debby hit, group says; 1+ million gallons overflow in hours

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — In addition to all the flooding, downed trees and at least three deaths, Tropical Storm Debby caused 38 sewer spills in two watersheds in North Carolina, according to a group that tracks the events.

Starting August 8, there were dozens of sewage spills linked to Debby stretching from Durham to Fairfield Harbor in New Bern at the coast, SoundRivers reported.

The group that tracks the health of rivers said about half of all spills in the Tar-Pamlico watershed happened in Rocky Mount.

“Most of them were concentrated around central North Carolina, as that’s where the heaviest of rainfall occurred,” said Pamlico-Tar Riverkeeper Katey Zimmerman.

By 10 a.m. on August 8, more than 1 million gallons of sewage had escaped by overflowing in various systems, according to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Division of Water Resources sanitary sewer overflow map.

Rocky Mount reported 168,000 gallons spilled into the Tar River while Kinston reported 500,000 gallons flowed into the Neuse River.

The issue in Kinston was caused by a broken pipe, officials said.

Of the sewage spills, 25 occurred in the Tar-Pamlico watershed, SoundRivers reported. There were 13 in the Neuse watershed.

The spills did not end on August 8.

On August 10, 72,000 gallons of sewage spilled into the Tar River from a Rocky Mount manhole along Atlantic Avenue, according to the NCDNR map.

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