NC0020290_Support Letters from USFWS_20200302

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United States Department of the Interior
FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
Asheville Field Office''E"'
160 Zillicoa Street Suite #B
Asheville, North Carolina 28801
February 28, 2020
Mr. Landon Davidson
NC Department of Environmental Quality
Division of Water Resources
2090 U.S. 70 Highway
Swannanoa, NC 28778-8211
Subject: Funding for the Town of Burnsville Wastewater Treatment Plant on the Cane River
Dear Mr. Davidson:
Our office was recently notified of problems with the operation of the town of Burnsville's
wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) located at 812 Pine Swamp Road, in Yancey County. The
WWTP discharges effluent to the Cane River which supports a population of Appalachian
elktoe. The Appalachian elktoe is a freshwater mussel that is currently federally listed as an
endangered species and occurs in only nine different streams in western North Carolina.
Beginning a few miles downstream of the wastewater treatment plant, about 16-miles of the
Cane River is federally designated as critical habitat for Appalachian elktoe.
The WWTP experienced problems in 2008. In the wake of those problems, numerous fresh -dead
Appalachian elktoe mussels were found in the river. Due to this illegal "take" of an endangered
species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's - Office of Law Enforcement became involved and
a civil suit was filed against the town of Burnsville. Ultimately the town and the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service signed a settlement agreement committing the town to pay $15,000 to the North
Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) for Appalachian elktoe recovery actions. In
the ensuing years, we've worked with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to use that
money to propagate about 30,000 young mussels and release them into the Cane River.
That the WWTP is again experiencing problems of this magnitude is extremely frustrating. Not
only does it threaten to eliminate any gains that have been achieved in re-establishing the
Appalachian elktoe population, it limits the ability of our staff to work safely in the Cane River
and to recover this species.
Unfortunately, over the past ten years we have observed and documented drastic reductions in
Appalachian elktoe populations in several streams across western North Carolina. The water
quality impacts to the Cane River from the WWTP over the past decade has resulted in the
nearly complete loss of the Appalachian elktoe population in that river. The restoration of a

Mr. Davidson - NCDWR 2
healthy and reproductive Appalachian elktoe population in the Cane River is essential to the
recovery of this species. This is not possible until the WWTP is repaired/rebuilt so that
compliance to water quality standards can be met. Therefore, we support any funding
opportunities and actions that will provide a quick and efficient repair of the current problems at
the WWTP. It is imperative that immediate actions are taken to provide the Town of Burnsville
with a reliable and functioning wastewater treatment plant that also increases the water quality of
the Cane River and avoids adverse effects to the Appalachian elktoe.
Sincerely,
Janet Mizzi
Field Supervisor