Charleston Waterkeeper to petition DHEC to help clean up contaminated creek

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Charleston Waterkeeper says they will petition the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control to help clean up a North Charleston creek that, they say, is contaminated with fecal bacteria.

Executive Director Andrew Wunderley said Filbin Creek, accessed at Ralph Hendricks Park off Virginia Avenue, has sometimes tested around 230 times the South Carolina limit for safe recreational use.

“Filbin Creek has had problems for years – everything from flooding to high levels of bacteria,” Wunderley said. “It’s been heavily altered over time, and so what we see this as is an inflection point, where we can stand up as a community, everybody can work together, and we can put this creek on a path to being healthier and cleaner for the future.”

Specifically, the Waterkeeper tests for a type of bacteria called Enterococcus. Wunderley said the bacteria is usually found in the feces of warm-blooded animals, such as humans, dogs and cats.

Wunderley said they have tested at the creek weekly for the past two-and-a-half years. It has only met the state standards once, during the week of June 9, 2021, according to the Waterkeeper’s data. He added that potential culprits for the high bacteria levels include malfunctioning sewer and septic tanks, discharge from boats with marine heads as well as pet and wildlife waste.

“Five or six times over the last two and half years, we’ve maxed out the ability of the test, so we frequently see not just high levels of bacteria at Filbin Creek, but extremely high levels of bacteria,” he said.

Wunderley said they will send a petition to DHEC to classify the creek as “impaired” following the conclusion of their testing season, which wraps up in late October.

“Impaired is a critical designation in state and federal law, and what that means specifically is that the waterway, in this case Filbin Creek, is not meeting its water quality standards for safe recreational use,” he said. “When a waterway is listed as impaired, that triggers obligations in federal law that require it to be cleaned up and made safe.”

Residents and visitors to Ralph Hendricks Park said they use the creek to launch small vessels as well as to fish and crab off the boardwalk.

“It’s quiet, and it’s shady. You know what I mean? You catch a lot of crab,” fisherman Theo Chance said. “I haven’t caught no fish here, but I heard you catch fish here.”

Wunderley warns swimming or fishing in contaminated water could make people sick. Despite that, some residents said they will continue to crab from the contaminated creek.

“My kids and everybody, they want to come here and have a good time,” resident Tigeress Raiaye said. “No matter what, I’m going to drop a net and call it a day.”

However, others said they don’t have another place to go to launch their boats.

“There’s not really a lot of boat landings here on the Cooper River, so it’s pretty popular here for small boaters anyway,” boater Sheldon Reid said.

Wunderley said they plan to present their findings to DHEC as part of their petition to clean up the waterway.

Some possible solutions include inspecting septic tanks, expanding sewer lines and cleaning up pet waste. Regardless, the Waterkeeper said there’s work to do to clean up this contaminated creek.

“The solutions to these problems aren’t difficult or complicated,” Wunderley said. “They just require the community to come together and work together to get the job done.”

A DHEC spokesperson said they do not generally comment on these types of petitions and do not have anything to provide at this time. North Charleston has not yet replied to requests for comment.

Wunderley hopes the creek is given the highest priority for cleanup and would like to see that happen within the next year.

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