State environmental regulators have given Colonial Pipeline the go-ahead to treat contaminated groundwater and release it into a creek near the site of a massive gasoline spill in Huntersville three years ago.
The company plans to build a water treatment plant across the street from the spill site, in the Oehler Nature Preserve about two miles east of downtown Huntersville. Treated water would be piped into the North Prong Clark Creek, which is in the Yadkin-Pee Dee river basin.
The final permit has some more stringent requirements than those included in a draft permit that drew citizen concerns at a public hearing in March. The Yadkin Riverkeeper, local elected officials and neighbors urged the Department of Environmental Quality to strengthen requirements in the permit. The requirements now include:
- Tighter limits on cancer-causing benzene and other chemicals.
- Increased monitoring of wildlife in and around the creek.
- Testing for “forever chemicals,” or PFAS.
- The DEQ reserved the right to revisit the permit and require additional monitoring.
Colonial's contractors are still cleaning up from the August 2020 incident, which leaked about 2 million gallons of gasoline into the soil — the largest spill on land in the United States. Colonial has said that the 40-inch underground pipeline burst when an old repair failed.
In a statement, Colonial says the water treatment plant will allow it to speed the cleanup and reduce truck traffic near the site. It still needs other approvals before building the plant.
"Colonial appreciates NCDEQ’s thorough permit review and decision, which will enable us to speed up product recovery, limit underground migration, and minimize truck traffic on public roadways. Our focus remains on safely recovering product and remediating the site, and we will continue working closely with environmental agencies and local leaders to ensure our operations meet or exceed regulatory requirements," the company said.
Treating water on the site off Huntersville-Concord Road will also save Colonial hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the state Department of Environmental Quality.
At the public hearing in March, DEQ officials said hauling water away in trucks would require 115 tanker trucks operating 24 hours a day indefinitely, which would disrupt the area and cost $596 million. Treating and discharging water at the site would cost $23 million.
