DUNCANVILLE — City workers spent hours Friday afternoon trying to clean up a massive fish kill on Ten Mile Creek in Duncanville.
Crews with the cities of Duncanville and Cedar Hill walked along the shore picking up dozens of dead fish.
Neighbors noticed the creek’s water changing color earlier in the week, but started smelling the problem Friday morning.
“When I came out this morning, I smelled something really strong,” said D.J. McCasland, who has lived on the creek for 15 years. “I walked down here, looked over to the creek, and there were hundreds of fish piled up on the ledge — dead!”
She and others called the city, worried about pollution.
“My dogs go down there,” she said. “I won’t let them go down, I’m afraid for my dog to drink the water.”
Neighbor Brent Miller was equally concerned. He and his family often fish from their back deck.
“It’s larger fish, which is kind of scary that something is polluting the water that much to kill large fish,” he said.
Although homes in Duncanville noticed the problem, city leaders blame a water main break upstream in neighboring Cedar Hill. On Thursday morning, crews discovered a 16-inch water main break.
Officials fixed the leak within hours, but they aren’t sure how long the main was spewing chlorinated tap water into the creek.
Tap water is extremely toxic to fish.
“It was one of those things that happened,” said Cedar Hill spokesperson Corky Brown. “It was something the city didn't plan on doing, and we certainly did not want to harm the environment.”
Brown said the city notified the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Aside from picking up the carcasses, Brown said there’s little else the city can do but wait for the tap water to dissipate.
“It was totally an accident, and we've done the best we can to control the source,” Brown said. “We trust this creek will recover fairly quickly.”
By Friday afternoon, the creek began returning to its normal color. Turtles and other fish could be seen swimming in its waters.
However, neighbors are still deeply troubled by how much has already been lost.
“Everybody talks about protecting the environment,” McCasland said, “but then if we’re doing that kind of stuff and can destroy so many living things with just a single blow, then how good are we doing?”
E-mail jbetz@wfaa.com
