Wildlife should feel right at home at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities Irwin Creek wastewater treatment plant. The plant grounds and surroundings include 2.5 acres of meadow, created from fill when a polishing lagoon was removed, as well as 50 acres of wooded natural area.
Plant personnel carried out the project under the Wildlife And Industry Together (W.A.I.T.) program, developed by the North and South Carolina Wildlife Federations. It encourages business and industry to use their vacant land for native flora and fauna.
The Irwin Creek activated sludge plant, built in 1927, sits on a 100-acre site and serves nearly 80,000 people in Charlotte, N.C. Chief treatment plant operator Betsy Hill coordinated the W.A.I.T. project.
Seeder on loan
Jackie Jerrell, treatment plant superintendent, was approached by Ann Gill, who was waste management specialist with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Solid Waste Department. She suggested the Irwin Creek staff contact Tim Gestwicki, W.A.I.T. program coordinator and deputy director of conservation programs for the North Carolina Wildlife Federation.
The project began in 2003, when the Bermuda grass covering the meadow area was twice sprayed with herbicide. It was seeded with native plants in December of that year, just after a hard frost. The seed cost the plant just under $900, and the drill seeder and operator were volunteered by the state Division of Natural Resources.
“We used a drill seeder, which injects seeds just below the surface, to avoid disturbing the soil surface and encouraging weed growth,” Hill says. “The first and second summers, we had to get rid of the undesirable weeds that did appear, including annual ragweed that we had to pull by hand before it choked out the desirable plants.”
No more dust
Before the meadow was created, Hill says, the staff had to mow the Bermuda grass area regularly, putting clouds of dust into the air. “Now, we mow every Valentine’s Day, and that’s all,” she says. “The meadow is much more appealing than the bare dirt and Bermuda grass. It’s especially beautiful in the late summer, when the goldenrod and perennial sunflowers are in bloom. And the native wild- flowers have attracted large numbers of birds and butterflies.”
Irwin Creek has continued to work with the W.A.I.T. program, installing birdhouses for native bluebirds and maintaining the houses, feeders and a birdbath. “We also put in a row of old-fashioned peach trees next to the meadow, which will provide nectar and fruit,” Hill says. “We added a row of redbud trees to provide more nectar, and we planted still more trees on a couple of acres that were cleared in the course of construction staging operations.”
Charlotte-Mecklenburg is planning another W.A.I.T. project at Mountain Island Lake, an impoundment of the Catawba River that supplies drinking water to 600,000 people. Possible projects there include a pole and platform for ospreys and eagles.
Gestwicki says there are about 40 W.A.I.T. project sites, and interest continues to grow. “We add 500 people a day here in North Carolina, so we need to work to offset and minimize the footprint caused by development,” he says.
‘Huge green wave’
“North Carolina is seeing a huge green wave, and the state is ripe for this sort of program,” Gestwicki says. “It enables us to preserve some wildlife habitat, and it allows companies like Charlotte- Mecklenburg Utilities to cut their mowing and landscaping costs, and to receive recognition for environmental responsibility. I think it’s a classic win-win situation.”
Treatment plant operator Phyllis Fakner, who has been at Irwin Creek for 30 years, observes, “I love to watch the different varieties of wildlife. The foxes, deer, birds of prey and the different songbirds. It is important to me to see that the animals and birds are protected and provided for when we invade their territories.”
Hill and a few staff members continue maintenance of the projects, taking care of the feeders and mowing the meadow each spring. While the area is not open to public recreation, Hill says the project has benefited both the community and the plant.
“By planting the trees and other sustainable growth, we’re helping the community by reducing heat islands,” she says. “And we’ve also reduced the dust that the mowing used to generate. The main thing is, I believe, that we took what was once an eyesore and turned it into a beautiful, vibrant meadow.
“As wastewater treatment personnel, we have a calling to protect the environment,” Hills says. “It is more than just a paycheck for us, and through W.A.I.T. and projects like it, we become educated on alternatives to customary landscaping practices such as clearing, planting grass and mowing regularly. We consider how our facilities impact the environment.”
