CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Mecklenburg County public health workers were at the U.S. National Whitewater Center Friday monitoring the refilling of the man-made kayak and raft channels.
Whitewater center officials told the county that it will take 2-4 days to completely fill the whitewater rivers with 12 million gallons of water, primarily from Charlotte Water.
They have not said when they intend to reopen.
The facility voluntarily shut down several weeks ago after an Ohio teenager died from a brain-eating amoeba that officials believe she contracted while rafting at the center in June.
Since then, local and state health and environmental agencies, along with the CDC, have been working with the whitewater center to drain the existing water, clean the channels and advise the center on the development of a new system to filter the water and clean the concrete.
Earlier this week, public health director Dr. Marcus Plescia updated the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners on the current status of the work and endorsed the center’s preliminary plan to maintain a level of chlorine high enough to make it impossible for the amoeba to survive.
“We remain engaged with the Whitewater Center and will continue monitoring the situation to ensure that no imminent public health risk exists,” Plescia said.
Neither the county nor the state currently regulate the center, though either can act if a significant risk to public health exists.
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