Amoeba-infested USNWC water may be treated, dumped in Catawba River

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Health officials talked Wednesday about the investigation into a brain-eating amoeba found at the U.S. Whitewater Center in west Charlotte.

The Mecklenburg County Health Director briefed county commissioners.

Questions led to more questions at the meeting, and despite the information shared, there was still no timeline given on when clean-up will be complete and when the whitewater channel will be reopened.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Whitewater Center are working together to figure out what needs to be done to have proper filtration and proper cleaning of the whitewater activity.

A few days ago, health officials concluded that the center's filtration system wasn't enough to handle the amount of debris in the water.

That's a major reason why officials asked the North Carolina Senate to hold off on a bill that would allow the state to regulate the Whitewater Center. They needed more time to figure out how to fix the issues and make the whitewater activity safe again.

That lack of action some county leaders were critical of Wednesday night, which means they may have their hands tied to step in with further oversight. The county can't regulate without regulations

“Part of our frustration is what do you do and when there is no regulation? You can't do anything so there are an awful lot of people looking to see how you deal with this," Mecklenburg County Commissioner Jim Puckett said.

There's still a lot of work that needs to happen before whitewater activities can reopen.

The Whitewater Center is still in the clean-up process, meanwhile, county health officials are reviewing a plan to treat the amoeba-infested water.

First, they would clean one of the pools, where the water was drained, and then a second pool, before that water is dumped into the Catawba River.

In order to do all this, the Whitewater Center is using engineering and operating modifications to its system. The center is crafting a strategy to ensure safe water quality.

Representative Bill Brawley was at the commissioner's meeting Wednesday night and told Channel 9 that this is an opportunity to look at all facilities that are unregulated by the state.

“Nobody in the state wants a little girl to go play in the water facility and die from it, for no reason,” Brawley said. “If something like that can happen, could we stop it? If we can, let's do it.”

The CDC does not plan to do more water testing at the Whitewater Center. Channel 9 has learned it is working with local health officials to figure out preventative approaches before the park is reopened.

The CDC released the following statement to Channel 9 on Wednesday:

CDC is working with state and local health authorities to determine what preventive measures are necessary for the park to be able to reopen. We don’t know much about how Naegleria fowleri may live and grow in a manmade facility like the Whitewater Center, which combines characteristics of a natural river or lake environment – such as exposure to runoff from surrounding soil, and uneven surfaces and stones on the bottom where slime layers can grow, with some characteristics of a manmade environment - such as recirculating water and shallow channels that let water get warm on hot days. Previous research into Naegleria has focused on all-natural settings and on settings that are completely manmade, like swimming pools.

The state and local health authorities are in communication with the Whitewater Center and could provide more information on the state of the facility.

There are no plans for CDC to do additional water testing at the facility. 

Last month, an 18-year-old girl died from the amoeba infection after visiting the Whitewater Center.

Lauren Seitz was visiting from Ohio on a trip with her church group. She died just days after returning home.

After her death, lawmakers in Raleigh drafted legislation to regulate the Whitewater Center. The bill passed in the House, but stalled in the Senate.

Lawmakers said the Health Department asked them to hold off on implementing any regulations until next year.

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