Here is the kerosene in Hardin creek and the industrial strength paper towels being used to clean it up. The red stuff is the kerosene, it is dyed red so that it can be identified in situations like this.

On July 21, 2010 an oil spill occurred at Mountain Oil Company in Boone, NC. The spill happened at the Mountain Oil facility on King Street.

The day before the spill, one of the workers at Mountain Oil left a maintenance door open on one of the storage tanks. Early the next day a different person began filling that tank with kerosene. The kerosene spilled straight onto the ground, it soaked into the soil and eventually reached the water table, and then it began seeping out into Hardin Creek.

Kerosene in Hardin Creek

Hardin Creek flows behind the Toyota Dealership, underneath the Regal Cinema, and then goes under King Street and flows next to the new high school, before reaching the South Fork of the New River.

Cleanup efforts continue at the Mountain Oil facility, and on Hardin Creek. Mountain Oil is paying for cleanup costs.

Clean up efforts continue in Hardin Creek

Much of the aquatic life in Hardin Creek has been killed by this event. However, there are still some fish and other things living. Since the kerosene floats on top of the water, rather than mixing with it, the ecological effects of this spill have not been as bad as the one on Hodges Creek earlier in the week. On the other hand, this spill is longer lasting, since the oil soaked into the ground it has been leaching out slowly into the creek.

Here is a short video that Kara made explaining the spill and the clean up.

Check back here for more updates and check out this short story from the Watauga Democrat.

Dead fish found in Hodges Creek, Boone NC

Over the weekend of July 17, polluted runoff from the BB&T parking lot on Highway 105 in Boone, NC killed all life in a 1.5 mile long stretch of Hodge’s Creek. Watuaga Riverkeeper, Donna Lisenby investigated the incident on Saturday evening. NC Department of Water Quality officials did not arrive to investigate the site until Monday morning, two days and two more rain storms later.

Here is the video Donna made, documenting her investigation, and surveying the damage.

The cause of the fish kill was determined to be a coal-tar based asphalt sealant applied by Sunshine Striping Asphalt and Seal Coat of Pine Hall NC. We could find no record of this company being licensed or bonded in North Carolina, or being licensed as a general contractor.  Eye witnesses report seeing the sealant being applied in the rain. This asphalt sealant is water soluble, so in the rain it just washed off the parking lot and straight into the creek, killing everything in it.

The material data safety sheet (MSDS) for Asphalt Based Pavement Sealer reads:

SECTION VII—SPILL OR LEAK PROCEDURES SARA TITLE III: #302: No #304 CERCLA: No #313: No Steps to be Taken in Case Material is Released or Spilled: Ventilate the area. Wear approved respiratory protection. Wear suitable protective clothing, gloves, and eye/face protection. Coal Tar Driveway Sealer is a marine pollutant and should be placarded as such when transported in bulk over sea or large bodies of water. Coal Tar Driveway Sealer will harm waterlife and should be prevented from entering any body of water. Dispose of in accordance with federal, state and local regulations.

Coal tar, which would be listed as a ‘hazardous waste,’ were it not for a special federal exemption, contains benzo[a]pyrene.  Benzo[a]pyrene is dangerous chemical that made EPA’s list of 12 priority “persistent bioaccumulative toxins.” Still, coal tar is being applied to asphalt across the country, and concerns are growing that toxins from the product are being tracked into homes, schools, hospitals and other buildings.

Check out the following presentation from Austin that more fully explains how coal tar sealants harm our environment.

The city of Austin, TX banned the product almost 5 years ago, when it was recognized to be damaging the local ecosystem. More recently a few other cities, including Washington, D.C., have followed suit.  Overwhelmingly, though, the product remains unregulated, exacting unmeasured costs on cities and ecosystems (like Boone and Hodge’s creek) across the country. Not only is this stuff toxic, but there are cheap, far less toxic petroleum based alternatives, so there is no real reason to use this stuff at all.

Now that the toxic effects of coal-tar based sealants has been made abundantly clear to the people of Boone, we are working to promote a ban of coal-tar based asphalt sealants in the town of Boone, with the hope that other surrounding towns and counties will follow suit.

Click here to check out a story in the Watauga Democrat’s about Hodge’s Creek accident.

Click here to see photos of the Riverkeeper Team doing an aquatic life assessment on Hodge’s Creek with the Division of Water Quality.

On Saturday July 24, The Watuaga Riverkeeper and Appalachian Voices showed the high country a great time at the first ever Watauga Riverkeeper Festival. Held at the Valle Crucis Community Park, the event brought out kids and adults to have fun and celebrate the Watauga River. The purpose of the festival was to promote environmental stewardship through outdoor recreation. Getting out and enjoying natural treasures like the Watauga River helps us appreciate them and see the need for their protection.

Some of the festivities included fly fishing clinics, a watermelon eating contest,  nature walks, field games for the kids, a bouncy hut, local vendors and food. Great music was provided by The Alberta Boys and Melissa Reeves.

A special thanks goes out to all our sponsors:

Pearls and body paint at the WRK festival. Check out the mountains and the river. Now thats our kind of art!

Tsuga Canopies

River And Earth Adventures

Earth Fair

Mast General Store

Foscoe Fishing

Footsloggers

The Town of Banner Elk

Dot Griffith and Jamie Goodman took these pictures that do the event more justice than my description.

More Pictures from Jamie Goodman can be found here.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Kids in the Watauga river at the festival. Yes, thankfully the Watauga is still a wild mountain river where kids can play till their hearts content, er well at least until their parents haul them out. No concrete, no docks, no boats. Just kids, rocks and the river, the way it ought to be.

Boys playing in the Watauga River. Ok, so raise your hand if you have fond memories from your childhood of swimming in a clean cold mountain river with your friends?

People enjoying the shade and the food under the pavilion

Hula hooping to the live music