Repairs nearly complete weeks after 15 million-gallon sewage spill

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — More than two weeks after 15 million gallons of sewage spilled into a main drinking water source, crews are starting to replace the broken pipe.

[Cleanup of 15M gallons of sewage hindered by equipment failure]

Crews brought Channel 9 out to the actual site Tuesday to see where the historic spill happened.

The sewage pipe ruptured last month, spilling the sewage into Long Creek in northwest Charlotte, which leads directly to the Catawba River.

Repairs about to wrap up after single largest sewage spill ever in North Carolina according to @CLTWater 15 million gallons. Crews working in W. #Charlotte are hoping the rain holds off through mid day. More on @wsoctv at NOON pic.twitter.com/as07ESrk4d
— Blaine Tolison (@BTolisonWSOC9) May 15, 2018

The break was caused by a tree that fell near Oakdale Road. The remnants of that tree can still be seen on the other side of the creek.

On the ground, scattered everywhere, are pieces of the broken pipe.

['No swim' advisory lifted week after 15.4 million gallon sewage spill]

Channel 9 could see crews working in a ditch where they're working to install the final piece, having replaced approximately 140 feet of pipe already.

When asked how something like this can be prevented in the future, Charlotte Water officials told Eyewitness News they can't plan for everything when it comes to nature, but they will try to monitor secluded sites better.

“By having people going out and inspecting pipes, trying to find potential hazards before they cause a spill like this,” said Cam Coley, with Charlotte Water. “But nature sometimes will have something happen like this that we just can't plan for.”

The area where the pipe broke is so secluded that crews had to build a road just to get to it.

Officials are still calculating how much the repairs are going to cost, and it going to be a few more weeks before they finish.

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