On Tuesday, April 10, members of the Mountain Island Lake Association Board of Directors spoke to the Mecklenburg County Board of Commission in opposition of a proposed gas station at the intersection of Rozzelle’s Ferry Road (Old Hwy. 16) and Hwy. 16. The Mountain Island Lake Marine Commission also opposes plans to build the gas station near this location. “There is the potential for spills. There is the potential for leaks,” said Jim Parks, Vice Chairman of the Marine Commission. The Charlotte- Mecklenburg Planning Commission also opposes the project. Their future growth plans call for housing to be built in this area, not gas stations or stores.

Because only the tip of the property is in the Mountain Island Lake Watershed Critical Area, the developer, Crosland Commercial, agreed to set aside that corner acre, placing the gas station on land adjacent to it, in the Lake Wylie Watershed Protected Area. Crosland believes that any potential spills or accidents would then run into Lake Wylie, not Mountain Island Lake.

In comments to the Mecklenburg County Commissioners, MILA member Pam Beck stressed the importance of protecting Lake Wylie, as well. “They speak of Lake Wylie as if we can just dump anything we like down there and it doesn’t matter because it’s not our drinking water,” she told Commissioners. “But that’s not right. We need to protect Lake Wylie, too.” She also thanked the County Commission for recently spending 3 million dollars in County approved bonds to purchase the land across the street for the protection of water quality. “It just doesn’t make sense to put a gas station on the opposite side of the road from the area you are attempting to protect.” Ms. Beck added. Over the past three years, nearly 20 million dollars of public money has been spent for protecting the shoreline of Mountain Island Lake in Mecklenburg, Gaston, and Lincoln Counties.

Mountain Island Lake Association member Anita Stilley addressed the Mecklenburg Commissioners, holding up petitions that have been signed in opposition of the proposed gas station. “We don’t need these services in this location.” She told the Board.

Alice Battle, a Mountain Island Lake Association member who has walked the property and studied the topography, told the Mecklenburg Commissioners that a gas station in this location provides a direct and continuous paved conduit to Mountain Island Lake. “The economic future of Charlotte-Mecklenburg will not turn on this project.” She told them. She added that the economic future of the area “does depend on clean drinking water.”

Mecklenburg Planning Commission member and Mountain Island Neighborhood Organization President, Dean Gates supports the gas station and development. A realtor and relative newcomer to the area, he was asked by County Commissioner Ruth Samuelson why the gas station couldn’t be taken out of the project. “Economics” Mr. Gates replied.

When asked his opinion, EPA Water Quality Supervisor, Rusty Rozzelle said, “There will always be a risk associated with it.”

The Mecklenburg Board of County Commission will vote on this important issue in May. Please contact them to oppose the gas station.

Note: In March, MINO held a community meeting, as required for rezoning, to tell neighbors about this, and two other development projects near Mountain Island Lake. After sensing a hostile crowd, MILA member Pam Beck asked Mr. Gates publicly if the MINO membership and Board of Directors had approved these projects as presented that evening. Mr. Gates did not answer the question, stating that he has been looking at this project for about a year and a half. The Officers of the Mountain Island Lake Association wish to make it clear to our members that we will never support or oppose any project on behalf of the Association without first getting the approval from the Board of Directors, or the entire membership. On January 29, the minutes show that the MILA Board of Directors voted unanimously to oppose this service station adjacent to the Critical Area of Mountain Island Lake.

Third Annual MILA Cookout

(Rain Date May 20th, 1:00 p.m.) Under an umbrella of trees

Look for the Balloons

Please bring a covered dish, casseroles, desserts, etc., cooler with drinks for your family and your lawn chairs. The association will furnish hamburgers, hotdogs and buns. There will be games for the children and the adults, so come out and enjoy the food and fun. If you have any questions call me or anyone on the social committee. Looking forward to seeing everyone.

Social Committee: 

Josie Smith, Chairman 

EPA Water Quality Supervisor, Rusty Rozzelle reported that March bacteria levels in McDowell Creek were 440. The target is under 200. There is also high turbidity in the creek.

The Marine Commission voted to oppose the gas station proposed on Old Rozzelle’s Ferry Road.

It was reported that gasoline was found in a stream located near the construction site of a South Park area service station.

New boating regulations will take effect on midnight, May 15.

The Marine Commission will be contracting with Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation for placement of buoys and also consulting with law enforcement.

Commissioner Cherico will prepare a map of upcoming rezoning plans in the area.

Commissioner McClure is studying boat size limitations for Mountain Island Lake.

Silt has been the buzz-word of local water quality issues for several years. Now in large part to the recent media attention regarding the Catawba’s declining water quality, I thought it was time to openly discuss what the harm is in all this “dirt”. After a heavy rain, one would be hard pressed to miss the clay-colored waters of the Catawba. The Charlotte Area continues to grow at an ever-increasing rate, and it is only natural that people would want to flock to the beautiful shorelines of our river and its lakes. Unfortunately, when buffer zones and erosion controls are not adhered to, our North Carolina clay makes its way from the cleared land into our drinking water. Along with the dirt comes the fertilizer from the immaculate lawns and the chemicals from the automobiles in the driveways. When combined, this spells disaster for local stream life.

The silt settles onto the bottom of the river and its tributaries literally chocking the macro-invertebrates, (crayfish and the larvae of many insects such as dragonflies). These creatures are the primary measurement for a biotic index, one of the most valuable tools environmental scientists have available. Because macro-invertebrates have very specific conditions to survive, the absence of pollution intolerant organisms in a stream can indicate something is wrong long after the toxins or silt have passed with the current. According to the Mecklenburg County EPA, the Mountain Island Drainage Basin water quality was fair to good, but the report also clearly states that the basin faces future degradation of its surface waters due to ever-increasing development (1998 State of the Environment, Mecklenburg County EPA, pg.37).

Please do your part to protect Mountain Island Lake for future generations: protect the buffer, minimize the use of fertilizers and herbicides, use care when fueling your boat, if visiting for the day pack away your trash, if fishing “catch and release” then file down your barb, don’t dump anything into the storm drain, and join the RIVERKEEPER® patrol.

The Catawba River is in trouble and the nation is noticing. American Rivers, a national conservation organization, listed the Catawba as the 13^th most endangered river in the U.S. Unprecedented development in the basin – the fastest growing river basin in the Carolinas – threaten the river’s ability to supply drinking water to nearly 2 million people, provide recreational opportunities, and dilute waste.

Beyond it’s human use, the Catawba sustains wildlife by providing critical habitat for 50 species of fish, 160 species of birds, and more than 120 kinds of trees. The basin hosts 11 unique and threatened species. The next 10 years are critical ones for the health of the Catawba basin. In Charlotte, NC, the adverse impacts of growth on the river and surrounding communities are already evident: 84 percent of Mecklenburg County streams are unsafe for primary human contact. Population growth basinwide is expected to double permitted levels of drinking water withdrawals and sewage discharges in the next ten years.

The river has a limited assimilative capacity, meaning that it’s ability to accept increasing waste discharges while providing safe drinking water and recreation, is finite. Growing drinking water withdrawals and wastewater discharges by the 14 counties, 22 municipalities and 2 states that depend on the Catawba River already have lead to heightened competition for the river’s resources. Assimilative capacity is directly linked to economic development and a community’s ability to grow. Without a system to equitably allocate competing demands on the river, the Catawba is ripe for the Southeast’s next “water war”. Similar demands caused by Atlanta’s population surge led to the tri-state water wars between Florida, Alabama, and Georgia.

“The designation of the Catawba River as one of America’s most endangered rivers is an opportunity for change in North and South Carolina,” said Donna Lisenby, the Catawba Riverkeeper. “As threats to the Catawba River have increased, so have the need for proactive steps to protect and preserve the river. This designation signifies a critical crossroads for the Catawba. What we do from this point forward will determine whether future generations will be able to rely on the river for safe drinking water, power production, and recreation.” The Catawba Riverkeeper and American Rivers call on North and South Carolina to take effective action today to prevent additional threats and reverse existing damage to the river.

1) Establishment of a river management committee through the Catawba-Wateree relicensing process, as required by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

2) Creation of a basinwide watershed coalition similar to coalitions established by the EPA.

3) Formation of a compact commission by state and federal governments having regulatory authority over land use, point source discharges and water withdrawals from the basin.

Although facilitated discussions were held on the last day of the conference, consensus about which approach to take was not reached. The conference was hosted by Voices and Choices, an organization focusing on a variety of environmental; challenges facing the Central Carolinas, including land use, recycling, and transportation.

You—yes, you—can help clean up Mecklenburg County’s polluted creeks.

I wrote last Saturday about our neighborhood creek, the dismal water quality in the county’s creeks, and some stunning improvements. But I didn’t go into detail about what regular citizens can do to help.

I asked that question of Rusty Rozzelle, who heads the county’s Surface Water Improvement and Management Program.

I expected he’d talk about things like grease and erosion control. After all, the two biggest polluters of Mecklenburg's creeks are sediment and fecal coliform bacteria, primarily from sewage. The single biggest cause of sewer leaks and overflows is grease in the lines. If homeowners stopped dumping grease down the kitchen sink, some of those sewer clogs wouldn’t happen. But when I asked him what he would wish most local residents would do differently, he said: “One of the biggest things is just to be aware, and to really care and to realize it’s important to the community. Get involved in the Adopt-A-Stream or the storm drain stenciling programs. Realize these streams are here and are part of a natural system that’s been here a very long time.

It turns out that if a creek runs through your property, you own its banks, but its water is considered “waters of the state”

That means, Rozzelle said, “The water in there belongs to us all.”

Reprinted with permission from The Charlotte Observer. Copyright owned by the Charlotte Observer.