The Mitchell County Health Department has now posted a Recreational Advisory for the North Toe River beginning at the Riverside Park in Spruce Pine and all areas immediately downstream. The Health Department recommends people and pets avoid all contact with the river in that area until after the water has been tested and declared safe. On the afternoon of Tuesday July 17, the Town of Spruce Pine discovered a broken collection system pipe for their municipal wastewater treatment system at the Beaver Creek crossing. Approximately, 20,000 gallons of wastewater discharged to Beaver Creek and entered the North Toe River immediately upstream of the Riverside Park in the Town. The North Carolina Division of Water Resources is collecting additional fecal coliform bacteria samples and will report the results to the Mitchell County Health Department on Friday. Although this is in the same area of the North Toe River, the sewage leak is not related to the fish kill earlier this week that was caused by the leak of hydroflouric acid from Quartz Corporation in Spruce Pine.
