Open floodgate may have killed fish

Friends of Reedy plans to find out if city violated Clean Water Act

Published in the Greenville News Online, Thursday, August 10, 2006 - 6:00 am

By Paul Alongi
STAFF WRITER

State researchers investigating a fish kill in the Reedy River focused Wednesday on an area upstream from a floodgate the city opened to do routine maintenance, but they're not giving specifics about how many fish died or what species they were.

The fish may have been suffocated when the floodgate was opened, kicking up enough sediment to lower the water's dissolved oxygen content, said Thom Berry, spokesman for the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.

The kill involves a "very small" number of fish in a "very small" area, Berry said, and no enforcement action is expected.

The city opened the 36-inch gate at a staggered dam that can be seen from Main Street to lower the river level Monday night or Tuesday morning, Greenville Public Works Director Mike Murphy said.

When the water fell, it exposed a year's worth of silt that had built up on a rocky shelf, he said. Bulldozers pushed the silt into the part of the river still flowing Tuesday to prevent a sandbar from building up, as part of routine maintenance, Murphy said.

Berry said dumping didn't appear to be a factor in the fish kill.

Dan Trout, executive director of Friends of the Reedy River, said he isn't satisfied with DHEC's response. He said he believes pushing the silt in the stream violated the U.S. Clean Water Act.

"We're going to talk to anybody and everybody about the nature of what happened and the regulations that might have been violated," he said.

City Manager Jim Bourey said the city is investigating what occurred.

"We will absolutely be living within the permit that we have for what's being done in the river," he said.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit to the city June 27, allowing it to put riprap on the banks to stabilize them, said public affairs officer Connie Gillette.

Gillette was reached too late Wednesday to determine whether the permit said anything about moving silt.

The investigation centers on a section of the river next to the new hotel and condos at RiverPlace, just upstream from Reedy River Falls, where visitors sometimes splash in the water.

Four technicians from the state Department of Natural Resources collected multiple species of dead fish Tuesday, spokesman Robert McCullough said.

DNR biologist Daniel Rankin said Wednesday he isn't allowed to disclose how many fish died or what species they were until the information is presented to the DNR board.

City crews continued work Wednesday, stabilizing the bank with boulders so it won't wash away a new city-installed sidewalk, Murphy said.

Murphy said the city has stopped pushing silt into the river.

He said the fish kill may have been caused by turbulence in the water from opening the floodgate.