BRUNSWICK COUNTY — An area nonprofit is urging Brunswick County officials to enact a moratorium on new development, arguing a series of recent wastewater leaks caused by Tropical Storm Debby demonstrates growth has outpaced residents’ infrastructure needs.
READ MORE: Almost 30K gallons untreated wastewater released in Brunswick County
ALSO: DEQ gives Brunswick County a break on sewer moratorium, allows flow permits
Brunswick County Conservation Partnership founder Christie Marek provided a list of recent wastewater leaks to the planning board at its Aug. 12 meeting. She called for a development moratorium to ensure infrastructure can meet demand, address the negative impacts of growth, and provide time for bacteria testing.
“We are not against growth and all developers,” Marek said at the meeting. “We are against irresponsible development that poses a health and safety risk to our community. Right now our county is under a state of emergency.”
Marek’s list of wastewater leaks included more than 900,000 gallons released just in August this year:
- Approximately 830,000 to 860,000 of both disinfected and partially treated wastewater from the West Brunswick Regional Water Reclamation Facility into an onsite stormwater pond on Aug. 9. The pond drains into a tributary of Lockwood Folly River.
- 30,000 of untreated wastewater released from Sea Trail Wastewater Facility into a tributary of the Calabash River on Aug. 9
- 1,500 gallons of untreated wastewater from a force main leak in Ocean Isle Beach into a tributary of the Shallotte River on Aug. 4
- 1,000 gallons of untreated wastewater near Dunrobin Point Southeast in Ocean Isle into a stormwater pond that drains into a tributary of the Shallotte River on Aug. 9
Brunswick H2GO — which serves a sanitary district encompassing Leland, Belville, Navassa and unincorporated parts of the northeastern section of the county — also reported discharges caused by Tropical Storm Debby, including 69,000 gallons of partially treated wastewater into the Brunswick River Aug. 8.
The Town of Shallotte reported a discharge of 1,600 gallons of untreated wastewater on Aug. 13 — some of which flowed into Shallotte River — and 12,150 of untreated wastewater discharged into a dry ditch on Aug. 17.
Under a 2014 state law, untreated wastewater overflows above 1,000 gallons require public notice. The county reported a cumulative 141,450 gallons of sanitary sewer overflows in its 2022-2023 report, 345,500 gallons in 2021-2022, and 374,500 gallons in 2020-2021.
“I have been told through wastewater management employees past and present that our pumps are at capacity,” Marek said. “That every time they get them caught up, another housing development is approved. We need a moratorium now.”
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, sanitary sewer overflows occasionally occur at most wastewater systems but frequent overflows indicate a systemic problem. The EPA notes many avoidable SSOs can be caused by improper system maintenance and inadequate capacity.
PCD reached out to Brunswick County to ask how many gallons of wastewater have leaked in the county this year and if officials believe recent overflows are linked to insufficient capacity but did not receive a response by press; the county’s 2023-2024 Annual Wastewater Performance Report will be published Friday.
Brunswick H2GO executive director Bob Walker told Port City Daily he did not believe recent sewer overflows were caused by overdevelopment.
“Unfortunately, that’s just the area we’re in,” he said. “We get 12 inches of rain and everything is underwater.”
Walker said he couldn’t speak for Brunswick County utilities — which provides services in a separate region — but estimates H2GO has five to seven years before its system reaches 90% capacity. He argued the quality of utilities’ preventative maintenance programs is a bigger factor determining sewer overflows than capacity.
Navassa Mayor Eulis Willis told PCD he advocates the county carry out a technical assessment to determine if the sewer overflows warrant a development moratorium.
The water bodies receiving recent wastewater discharges — Brunswick River, Calabash River, Lockwood Folly River, and Shallotte River — were listed on DEQ’s 2024 draft impaired water bodies list.
Marek noted testing is ongoing for a number of sites that have faced recent contamination. Three lakes in Boiling Springs were closed due to high bacteria concentrations Aug. 14. The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has maintained a precautionary advisory against swimming in Caswell Lake — despite lifting the warning for most other coastal sites — due to bacteria levels exceeding safe levels. Oak Island also faced an advisory for bacteria levels before it was lifted in July.
Brunswick has experienced a development moratorium due to strained wastewater infrastructure before. DEQ issued a three-month sewer line moratorium at Brunswick’s northern wastewater treatment plant in June 2019 after issuing a violation to the plant for operating at 110% of state-permitted capacity — it was only permitted to treat 2.475 million gallons a day of wastewater at the time. To facilitate infrastructure demands posed by Brunswick’s rapid population growth, the county’s wastewater master plan aims to quadruple that figure to a capacity of 8.725 million gallons a day by 2025.
A December 2023 study carried out by contractor Remington & Vernick Engineers recommended new maximum system impact fee increases — a one-time cost for newly permitted developments to connect to county utilities — to fund necessary expansions of the county’s wastewater infrastructure.
“The county has limited to no available capacity and useful life to serve both existing and new customers,” the study indicated.
RVE found Brunswick County could more-than-double wastewater system development fees from the current rate of $1,000 for a one bedroom unit to $2,172.
Commissioners agreed to bump fees per-bedroom in the 2025 budget; developers will pay $1,478 beginning in January 2025 before increasing to $1,956 in July 2025.
Marek expressed concerns to Port City Daily that updated fees would not apply to developments that have been approved but not yet built before the end of the year.
She also cited the planning board’s August 12 unanimous approval of rezoning 1,991 acres previously included in Southport’s extraterritorial jurisdiction — which she urged to delay after calling for a moratorium — as likely to further exacerbate the county’s wastewater system. The county took control of Southport’s zoning control on July 1 after the enactment of H.B. 911, sponsored by Rep. Charles Miller (R-Brunswick).
“They’re going to rezone it for high densities so of course there’s going to be growth right after it,” she told Port City Daily.
Tips or comments? Email journalist Peter Castagno at peter@localdailymedia.com.
Want to read more from PCD? Subscribe now and then sign up for our morning newsletter, Wilmington Wire, and get the headlines delivered to your inbox every morning.
