Damaged line leads to sewage spill into North Carolina lake

CORNELIUS, N.C. (AP) — An internet, cable television and phone provider has apologized after a fiber subcontractors damaged an underground line and sent raw sewage into a North Carolina lake.

Jennifer Frost, a Charlotte Water spokeswoman, told The Charlotte Observer on Wednesday that a Spectrum subcontractor installing fiber damaged a line from which sewage spilled into the lake.

Charlotte Water crews responded to the spill on Spinnakers Reach Drive in Cornelius, according to a news release Tuesday that said the spill resulted from “construction damage.” About 400 gallons reached Lake Norman out of 630 gallons that poured from the broken line Tuesday, according to the Charlotte Water news release.

The company immediately notified the town of Cornelius, and repairs were made, according to the statement.

Cornelius Today first reported about the spill, and added that cable subcontractors caused two similar spills in The Peninsula in March.

In a statement released by a company spokesman on Thursday, Spectrum apologized but said the underground line in question hadn’t been correctly marked but didn’t say who they believe made the error.

Cornelius Town Manager Andrew Grant said the town doesn’t identify or mark utility lines and would refer a caller seeking that information to the utility company, such as Spectrum.