Waterways turn red when it rains in southeast Durham. This is no metaphor—locals coined the term “tomato soup” to describe the color of their creeks, which for years have turned shock-red from muddy runoff and sediment pollution from massive construction sites.
As Neuse Riverkeeper with the nonprofit Sound Rivers, I have spent years monitoring and documenting the impacts of sediment pollution from Durham’s development boom. Through water quality sampling and aerial monitoring of construction sites in southeast Durham’s most rapidly developing areas, Sound Rivers has documented sediment runoff from massive construction projects polluting public waterways and resulting in levels of turbidity (a measurement of suspended sediment in a water column) at more than 20 times the state’s legal standard for surface waters.
This is why Sound Rivers, represented by Southern Environmental Law Center, is suing one multistate developer in federal court for violating the Clean Water Act. In a favorable and thorough decision, a recent court ruling rejected the corporate developer’s Motion to Dismiss and greenlighted the lawsuit to move ahead.
Construction-related sediment runoff causes serious harm to aquatic ecosystems. Sediment muddies our rivers, blocks sunlight needed by plants and fish to survive, chokes out habitat, and challenges the very building blocks of aquatic life. Pathogens and nutrients also piggyback on sediment pollution, which can pose health harms for humans who come into contact with the water.
Perhaps most concerningly, construction pollution in southeast Durham not only impacts Durham’s creeks but also impacts Falls Lake—the drinking water source for over half a million people in Wake County. Aerial photographs from our watershed monitoring flights show mud from Durham development pouring into Falls Lake. Still, four of the seven Durham’s city council members continue to deny the reality that sediment runoff from development sites is polluting our waterways.
At Durham city council meetings, large rezoning projects that clear cut and mass grade hundreds of acres of forested land into suburban sprawl are regularly approved in narrow 4-3 votes. In the recent Virgil Road rezoning case, council members downplayed and outright dismissed the well-documented sediment pollution problem in order to justify the approval of more than 500 acres of single family sprawl, against a unanimous rejection of the proposal by Durham’s Planning Commission.
These important decisions that will shape what Durham looks like for decades to come are often made late at night with few members of the public present. Instead of viewing muddy creeks as the inevitable outcome of growth, Durham residents should speak up about the continued loss of valuable natural lands to unchecked suburban sprawl.
Despite what some Durham elected officials may say, we can have housing development and clean, healthy creeks and surrounding ecosystems. While Durham’s sediment-pollution crisis stems from suburban sprawl, the city’s new Comprehensive Plan provides a blueprint for walkable, diverse, thriving communities that meet the needs of both residents and the environment.
As long as Durham’s council continues to approve irresponsible development proposals, it not only fails to implement the Comprehensive Plan’s vision but also fails its people and the future. Lend your voice to a growing movement calling for change by contacting Durham city council and demanding that Durham’s elected leaders protect its waterways and communities from irresponsible suburban sprawl.
Samantha Krop is the Neuse Riverkeeper and the directory of advocacy for the nonprofit Sound Rivers.
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