1.1 million-gallon wastewater spill near Raleigh-Durham Intl Airport prompts cleanup, investigation

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Crews spent Wednesday restoring and finishing cleanup efforts after more than 1.1 million gallons of untreated wastewater were mistakenly dumped into a storm drain near Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

The City of Raleigh said the spill happened Tuesday around 8:20 a.m. and was tied to construction at RDU. Contractors working on a sewer pipe were using a temporary line to bypass sewage flow when it failed.

A 30-inch pipe burst during the process, sending untreated wastewater into the Little Brier Basin.

Contractors alerted the city Tuesday, and officials said the spill was contained by 10 p.m.

To prevent additional wastewater from escaping, the city instructed contractors to pour remaining untreated wastewater into the sewer system off Hertz Drive and Glenwood Avenue. Instead, contractors accidentally directed it into a stormwater drain.

An employee at Auction Direct said crews had been dumping wastewater from the RDU project next to the dealership for several days, but Tuesday's incident was the worst and impacted business.

"The customers were coming in complaining about the smell and then also about all of the activity and not being able to get by," said Auction Direct employee Marquis Dixon. "So (customers) were just kind of doing what they had to do. (Crews) were blocking up the street. So it was real rough on the customers. And then the smell. You can smell it in the building. So it was real rough for the customers to be out here and come out here and look at cars or even do test drives...because of the smell," he said. "We lost a lot of customers already, so we're normally packed on the weekends as well. So it's been a lot of people that turned around and left."

The city said an initial repair was completed Tuesday evening and that there was no impact to nearby residents. Raleigh Stormwater is investigating the discharge, and officials have not said what follow-up actions may be taken.

Dixon said employees were told not to worry.

"They told us that when they were dumping it, the pipes flowed uphill. So we shouldn't worry about any being coming down as far as the smell or the stuff that they were dumping," he said. "But when they were dumping, it was actually coming downhill here. They dumped it right in the sewer holes."

Officials said most of the spill was contained to the Little Brier Basin and did not reach surface water, which they described as their biggest concern. If it had, the city said it would have notified customers.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has been notified as the investigation continues.