See Story Updates Below Tuesday night, around 8:20 p.m. Lewisville Fire department responded to a report of a hazardous material in Timber Creek, behind the 900 block of Regency Drive. The complainants reported someone poured some chemicals by the creek, and that it was a creamy-looking substance. They also reported dead fish and turtles around it.
When we went to investigate around 10 p.m. no fire department personnel were still on the scene.
We'll update the report as we get more info.
Update 5/2/2012: After reviewing the radio tape, it's hard to tell what the fire department's investigation decided that the substance was, but you can hear them saying that it was non-hazardous. Glad to hear it.
Update #2: 5/2/2012: Lewisville Fire Chief Tim Tittle provided this information:
Quote:
"Turns out we believe it was run off from a resident having his back yard pool resurfaced. Some of the runoff was watered down plaster and some of it appeared to be a mixture of salt and water from the pool being overfilled and we are thinking that it is the salt solution that was killing the small fresh water fish in the creek. Our City Environmental Control Services representatives were on the scene when we left."
Update #3: 5/2/2012, 12:14 p.m.: We've gotten an unconfirmed report that there may have been a water main break that affected the creek. One neighborhood resident said that city workers were out collecting water samples this morning.
Update #4: 5/2/2012, 2:19 p.m.: I went down and took pictures of the water, which is very cloudy right now. Dead fish are everywhere, and I saw no live fish like I normally would. The whole area smells like rotting fish, even as far down as the bridge that goes behind Creekside Elementary. It was eerie.
City Manager Claude King says the City is investigating. He confirmed that there was both a water main break and an incident with a pool, but they do not know to which extent either of them contributed to the problem.
Update #5: 5/2/2012: 5:45 p.m.: From the City of Lewisville: Quote:
At about 8 p.m. Monday, the City received a report of a water leak on Prairie Drive at Old Orchard. The maintenance crew discovered a significant leak that required repairs lasting well into the next day. During the repair work, treated water from the leak flowed into the storm drain system and made its way to Timber Creek.Treated (tap) water does contain trace levels of chlorine as part of the treatment process, and that can be toxic to small fish (similar to placing tropical fish in an aquarium without first using a dechlorination tablet) but poses no risk to people. City workers have confirmed dead fish in Timber Creek roughly between Old Orchard and Edmonds. Tests conducted on Wednesday found no traces of chlorine remaining in the creek. The city is continuing to monitor the creek and conduct tests to confirm details of the incident.
The pool information that has been floated around (no pun intended, I promise) does not appear at this time to be related to this issue.
Update 3/2/2013: The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has proposed a fine of $6,750 against the City of Lewisville public water supply for the following violations: Texas Water Code, §26.121(a)(1)- failing to prevent the unauthorized discharge of pollutants into or adjacent to any waters in the state; and Texas Water Code, §26.039(b)- failing to provide timely notification to the TCEQ of accidental discharges which cause pollution.
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Anonymous
Posted: 2012/5/2 13:56 Updated: 2012/5/2 14:12
Re: Updated: Residents Report Material Spilled in Timber ...
If city workers were collecting water samples from the fire hydrants, that is common practice to test for chlorine levels. This has been done in the past, generally started because one or more residents call to say that the chlorine level is too high at their faucet, and they verify it at multiple fire hydrants.
Re: Updated: Residents Report Material Spilled in Timber ...
I walked the creek in Central Park today around 11:00 AM today (Wednesday). The creek water has a nasty green hue. When my wife and I walked the same path by the creek on Sunday we saw many fish and a dozen or so turtles. Today, nothing. This could be pretty bad because most of the fish we saw on Sunday were bedding on the gravel patches in the creek. What little could be seen of the gravel patches today contained no fish at all.
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Anonymous
Posted: 2012/5/2 18:42 Updated: 2012/5/2 19:16
Re: Updated: Residents Report Material Spilled in Timber ...
How sad! I've always enjoyed watching the perch nest in the creek. This sounds like it could have killed both the parents and their eggs or possibly their fry. I hope that it can be cleaned up and the creek healed! It is one of the last corridors for animals in the area and it feeds into the Trinity River which, in turn, feeds into Galveston Bay. A tragedy in the creek can have much further reaching effects than many think.
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Anonymous
Posted: 2012/5/2 17:03 Updated: 2012/5/2 17:48
Re: Updated: Residents Report Material Spilled in Timber ...
well let me know what I can do to help clean up that creek...if I have to go in and help clear out the chemicals and dead fish if need be.
Re: Updated: Residents Report Material Spilled in Timber ...
Let me see what I can find out about cleanup. I also don't mind helping out, but I want to make sure we don't somehow mess things up more by collecting the dead fish. I also don't know what response the City might be planning.
Re: Updated: Residents Report Material Spilled in Timber ...
From the City of Lewisville: Quote:
We are not planning to remove the fish for several reasons. Large parts of the creek are inaccessible (or at least, not safely accessible); having a large number of people entering the creek could negatively impact other native wildlife; and with the dead fish mostly being very small, we believe turtles, raccoons and coyotes will take care of most of them within a day or two. We do have people watching the creek, and if they see larger fish that they can reach safely, they will remove them.
That said, I did discover some litter that needs some cleanup in a place that's not too inaccessible. There's also another buried tire. (I swear there must be a huge pile of tires somewhere upstream that wash down now and then)
I'll post pictures soon.
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Anonymous
Posted: 2012/5/3 10:16 Updated: 2012/5/3 10:26
Re: Updated: Residents Report Material Spilled in Timber ...
Between Valley Parkway and Regency Drive there used to be a car hood too. Where do things like that come from???
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Anonymous
Posted: 2012/5/3 10:26 Updated: 2012/5/3 10:27
Re: Updated: Water Main Break Enters Timber Creek; Chlori...
Your pictures break my heart [but I'm glad I can't smell it!]. It looks like it got a lot of the nesting perch. The birds you saw were probably herons. They cruise the creek silently and can scare the hell out of you!
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Anonymous
Posted: 2012/5/3 10:28 Updated: 2012/5/3 11:21
Re: Updated: Water Main Break Enters Timber Creek; Chlori...
Just a reminder...the people that live on Regency Drive own to the center of the creek and property owner of the Ingram land owns to the center of the creek. Please don't trespass behind these houses.
Re: Updated: Water Main Break Enters Timber Creek; Chlori...
Posted an update today: Update 3/2/2013: The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has proposed a fine of $6,750 against the City of Lewisville public water supply for the following violations: Texas Water Code, §26.121(a)(1)- failing to prevent the unauthorized discharge of pollutants into or adjacent to any waters in the state; and Texas Water Code, §26.039(b)- failing to provide timely notification to the TCEQ of accidental discharges which cause pollution.
Re: Updated: Water Main Break Enters Timber Creek; Chlori...
