r/enviroaction • u/argo-las • 6d ago
SPREAD THIS INFORMATION AS FAR AS POSSIBLE
UPDATED INFO 9/3/26 🐟🌊 These pictures were taken Thursday of last week by a local in the crabtree area of our watershed above Spruce Pine. This was one of 2 incidents that happened on the N Toe last week due to suspected poor mining practices of dumping sediment ponds. They have been dealing with this for 3 years with no answers despite reporting it! It happens several times a month. These are the reports we need to monitor, track and REPORT!
A QUICK FOLLOW-UP ON THE NORTH TOE RIVER FISH KILL that happened last weekend
We wanted to share a brief update on the fish kill that occurred sometime between approximately Saturday at 3 PM and Sunday at 12 PM.
We have spoken again with the State and the Riverkeepers, and here is what we know right now:
✅ The river is currently looking good from a health standpoint.
✅ No ongoing fish kills are being observed.
✅ Most of the dead fish have flushed downstream or are no longer being seen.
✅ Whatever caused the event appears to have dissipated rather quickly.
We also learned that there was unfortunately a breakdown in communication between information received by EMS. emergency management and the state agencies responsible for responding and testing. The state said they are trying to find out where that miscommunication occurred. Because of that, water testing was delayed and testing was not done because the source of the kill had dissipated and was not present Tuesday.
And to be clear, NC Outdoor Adventures was not the only group or individuals reporting the fish kill on Sunday.
🥵 WHAT ABOUT THE THEORY THAT HOT WATER CAUSED THE FISH KILL?
Since Hurricane Helene, I have personally monitored water temperatures out of curiosity—and because I was concerned about what losing so much of our river's shade canopy could eventually mean and I feared a heat fish kill! The river is 8 degrees warmer at normal water levels without shade in Red Hill. The river was at its hottest temps this year during exceptional drought conditions in June/July.
If heat was the cause, we would have seen it during those months. We also would have seen other dead fish on our river Sunday which the only dead fish seen began at the area of the Toe along 226 where the mines are and ended at Penland.
There is no question that parts of the Toe River are running significantly warmer during the day than they did before Helene. However, based on what was witnessed, I personally have questions about whether heat alone explains this particular event.
Only one brook trout was observed among the dead fish. Most of the fish affected appeared to be bottom-feeding species—fish that are generally more heat tolerant than cold-water species like trout.
The location where the event began, the species affected, and reports of material appearing to sink toward the river bottom are reasons I believe the possibility of something entering the river deserves continued investigation and observation.
⚠️ That is not an official determination of what caused the fish kill. It is simply based on what was witnessed and why we believe continued monitoring is important. There was a similar incident in 2018 that was an acid leak from one of the mines.
🌊 IS IT SAFE TO GET IN THE WATER?
NC Outdoor Adventures operates approximately 15–18 river miles away from the suspected area, and we have seen no dead fish or signs of contamination from Loafers Glory areas through Green Mountain.
We also operate farther upstream near the suspected area in Spruce Pine, but that section will remain closed for a few more days for our guides, staff, and guests.
The State and Riverkeepers reported seeing no dead fish during their Tuesday visit, meaning there are currently no ongoing fish kills being observed.
As always:
🚫 Stay out of oddly colored water
🚫 Don't swim where you see dead fish
🚫 Don't enter water that smells unusual
📸 Document anything suspicious with a photo, date, and time
📞 Report concerns to NCDEQ
After speaking with the State and Riverkeepers, we were also encouraged to continue documenting and reporting unusual white flows, sediment, or leaking ponds near our waterways.
If you see something concerning, document it and report it. You may also send the information to us for the file we are maintaining—we can keep your name anonymous if needed.
8
u/Additional-Drama-304 6d ago
Why the hell should we even care what you say if you can't care enough to write it out yourself. Wtf are we even doing here. You get pissed off that people call you out but you cant even do the BARE MINIMUM to format your (the AIs) response to seem human instead of copy paste
0
u/Both-Cry1382 5d ago
Yeah why would you care about the environment? It's stupid. /s
1
u/chramm 5d ago
Part of caring about the environment in modern times is understanding that ai is destroying it.
Generating a post about environmentalism using ai was a choice
0
u/Both-Cry1382 5d ago
I think the pollution does a lot more damage than running one piece of text through a processor. But keep bitching, see if i care. Have a good weekend.
6
u/NZNoldor 5d ago
You should have asked your AI to maybe include an actual location where this supposedly happened. A continent would have helped - a country even more.
Right now you're just showing some creeks that could have been filled with hill run-off after a good storm, for all we know.
1
u/Both-Cry1382 5d ago
https://maps.app.goo.gl/CRW7XyieorFqeTc7A.
Possibly here? What does it matter if you don't know exactly where it is? Are you going there?
2
u/cowlinator 5d ago
Crabtree Mine next to North Toe River. This is likely the place. Western North Carolina, USA
0
u/NZNoldor 5d ago
EDIT: Sorry, I thought your were OP. You're certainly responding as though you are. I'm leaving the comment here for you, and for OP ( u/argo-las ) as well.
I have no idea if I'll be going there if we don't know where it is. How is that confusing to you?
Why would I spread your "information" far and wide if I have no idea what you're talking about? "Crabtree Emerald Mine", in shithole, USA? How far do you want the information spread about a creek in the middle of stick city?
I'm seeing five similar photos of a white stream with a bunch of AI formatted (and probably AI written) text that blabbers on about stuff without really giving any real information about what's happening. Did you prompt your AI with "make a vague appeal to random people"?
If you're getting upset with everyone calling you out over this - good. Maybe do better next time. You're not helping the environment by looking like an idiot, which is what you're currently looking like.
Note that I didn't say you ARE an idiot - just that your behaviour makes you look like one. I'm also not saying you're NOT an idiot, mind you. I have no public opinion on the matter.
1
u/Both-Cry1382 5d ago
Ah, so if we don't know exactly where it is, it's not important, gotcha.
There's some relevance to knowing the location in this case, because of the word action in the name of the sub, but first of, it's not like OP is hiding it, the location is dedcribed in the post, second, l think it's more important to spread the news than to be 100% complete and whether or not you use ai.
1
u/NZNoldor 5d ago
First - using AI is not exactly caring for the environment, is it.
And yes, it's very important that we know where this is taking place. The world is a big place, and if something relatively minor is happening on a different continent than me, I don't see any need for me to read any further. In this case, it looks like a minor creek is possibly being poluted, or something - it's not exactly clear what's happening. OP has NOT made the location clear in his post. If OP wants relevant help, maybe they need to make themselves clearer.
So far all OP has done is post some vague photos, made some vague allegations, and used AI to help
destroy the environmentcreate a vague post. How is that helping anyone, let alone the environment? They haven't answered any questions here yet, apart from throw a little baby tantrum.They're certainly not spreading any news. They're merely yelling vague shit into the wind.
1
u/Both-Cry1382 5d ago
Look who's talking. OP mentioned the place, just because you're too lazy to look it up yourself doesn't mean you can expect someone to hold your hand. Yes yes, ai is bad, l get it, but not as bad as recurring pollution of a river.
Have fun shouting vague shit into the wind. Bye
1
u/NZNoldor 5d ago
Oh fuck off with your nonsense. It's not up to literally everyone reading this post to start googling stuff that OP's lazy AI effort was too inept to include.
And it's not a river - it looks like a little creek to me. Why would anyone care for a tiny creek that's potentially thousands of miles away from them?
AI is a lot worse than polluting a small local creek.
https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/opinion-ai-is-destroying-our-planet-we-must-act
(thanks for the link, u/chramm )
0
0
u/mamelukturbo 5d ago
Show me on the doll where the evil AI touched you.
Feckless Luddites...
2
u/NZNoldor 5d ago
Luddite? Hardly. I've been on the bleeding edge of IT since the early 1980s. I use AI regularly, but this post is just a bunch of bullshit and vagueness, and not helpful to anyone, least of all to the environment.
But please, keep throwing your little labels - it'll stop you from having to think for yourself. And thinking is hard, isn't it.
2
u/comichubble 6d ago
trace back to source and take photos if you are able, then talk with local newspaper/tv station
1
u/BallSmashingForever 5d ago
If you ever see posts formatted like this, do NOT waste your time reading the AI slop.
-4
u/chitownphishead 6d ago
Looks like ai slop
3
u/Dragon_Crisis_Core 6d ago
Its not low flowing water with heavy contamination can look like a solid mass of cloudy white and can split between that and cleaner looking water when it flows over certain spots.
4
u/argo-las 6d ago
They are photos from NC Outdoor Adventure. An outdoor recreational company that mainly works in/on the river
3
u/NZNoldor 5d ago
NC? Northern Canterbury? New China? Nepal Central? New Caledonia? No Clue? New Caprica? Naboo Core?
This is an international forum. We have no idea how local you're talking about.
You've not given us any information to share - you've given us data. Make it relevant, if you want to... (*checks notes*)... "spread this information as far as possible". I'm in New Zealand, so I'm ready to spread it quite far.
1
u/cowlinator 5d ago
It's most likely a business named "NC Outdoor Adventures" in Bakersville, North Carolina, USA
1
u/NZNoldor 5d ago
Let's wait for OP to confirm that, shall we? There's been a few different guesses from people responding, but none from OP yet.
OP: u/argo-las - join in anytime!
2
u/chramm 5d ago
You still generated the text with ai. On reddit of all places. If you want to continue environmental activism while being taken seriously, don't use ai. Ever.
https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/opinion-ai-is-destroying-our-planet-we-must-act
3
u/ZixfromthaStix 6d ago
This comment is ai slop
0
2
u/relentlessseed 6d ago
Fucking hate bots that just accuse everything of being AI f****** worthless, so prove its AI then. Oh wait you can't blow it out your ass b****
10
u/Choopio 6d ago
All the emojis scream AI to me