State environmental officials in the department’s water resources division announced today work has begun on a project that will stabilize the streambank beside the Town of Hookerton’s wastewater treatment plant in Greene County. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers emergency streambank and shoreline project will fortify a portion of Contentnea Creek’s bank that was eroding towards the wastewater plant’s largest treatment lagoon.
“In just a few months, this edge of Contentnea Creek will be bolstered by a 12-to-15 foot high wall of filtering material, small stones and heavy rock for a distance of more than 500 feet along the creeks edge,” said Jay Zimmerman, director of North Carolina’s water resources division who participated in the groundbreaking ceremony. “Concerns of any breach from the creek into the town’s treatment lagoon will be greatly reduced thanks to this emergency stabilization project.”
During Hurricane Irene in 2011, a tree uprooted on Contentnea Creek’s bank, which over time, caused the creek to divert and erode the bank. The erosion was noticed in 2014 and a 50-foot patch was constructed in 2015. The creek has continued to chisel its way towards the edge of Hookerton’s wastewater treatment pond, sounding the alarm for emergency action. This project is a 550-foot permanent fix that will require minimal maintenance.
The $1.4 million Emergency Streambank and Erosion Project will be paid through a cost sharing partnership between federal, state and town funds. In 2014, the North Carolina General Assembly appropriated $410,000 to pay for its share of the project.