Weekly News Briefs: Illegal Dumping Causes Contamination at Treatment Plant

On Feb. 15, plant operators at the Sugar Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant in Charlotte, N.C., detected a strange odor in the wastewater, forcing the city to close the plant and divert wastewater to an isolated containment pond on plant property. After several tests, authorities identified the substance as ethanol, which they believe was dumped into city sewers by someone attempting to avoid disposal fees.Just one week earlier, the Mallard Creek Wastewater Plant in northeast Charlotte shut down for a day when workers noticed a sheen on the wastewater. That substance was identified as PCBs, which were also dumped into city