Friends of Bolin Creek contacted the Orange County Soil and Erosion Office with concerns about erosion from the new subdivision under construction at Ballentine, located immediately off of Old 86 in Carrboro. Muddy orange water was observed in Bolin Creek downstream from this site, while upstream waters appeared in good shape. At the construction site, there were several indicators that clay was entering waterways.
Some silt fences were breached as seen in the picture at the left.
Clay lay in the roadways and evidence of red clay washing into the storm drains. No straw bales, silt fences or other devices were in place on the roadway portion of this site to prevent this from occurring.
Within the last two weeks we have seen Bolin Creek and some tributaries run muddy red/orange. Large concentrations of clay particles don’t get into the creek unless subsoils from earth-moving activities are left exposed to the weather. The tiny clay particles stay suspended a long time, altering habitat and harming macroinvertebrates and other aquatic life.