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DEQ outlines Hurricane Helene response: drinking water, wastewater and debris operations
Summary
DEQ Secretary Kelly briefed the EMC on Hurricane Helene response, detailing field rescues, water and wastewater system impacts, temporary debris sites, coordination with FEMA/Corps/NCDOT, bridge-loan financing, and estimates that more than 10 million cubic yards of debris will need removal.
Secretary Kelly briefed the Environmental Management Commission on the department's ongoing Hurricane Helene response and recovery work, describing field rescues, damage assessments, and the scale of debris and infrastructure impacts across western North Carolina.
Kelly said DEQ deployed staff to emergency operations centers and field assessments as waters receded and that division teams assisted with swift-water rescues, dam monitoring and rapid assessments of drinking‑water and wastewater systems. "We were mainly focused on two emergency support functions: ESF‑3 for public infrastructure and ESF‑10 for oil and hazardous materials," Kelly said. She described widespread communication outages, collapsed bridges, landslides, and roads blocked by debris.
DEQ reported infrastructure impacts: about 750 drinking-water systems were in the affected area; immediately after the storm more than 90 lacked power and about 160 were under boil-water advisories; hundreds of wastewater systems were affected and a small number remained closed. Kelly said staff prioritized restoring drinking water and wastewater services and activated emergency funding operations to provide interest-free bridge loans where FEMA reimbursement is expected.
On debris, Kelly and staff characterized the scale as unprecedented: department presentations cited an estimate of more than 10,000,000 cubic yards of debris statewide in the affected area and described coordination with NCDOT, the Corps of Engineers and a state convenience contract to accelerate debris removal. Kelly said DEQ is approving temporary disaster-debris sites, working to prevent ad-hoc open burning, and encouraging use of air-curtain incinerators where appropriate with EPA coordination.
Staff also described targeted technical assistance and monitoring: additional non-regulatory fine‑particle sensors will be deployed in mountain locations and DAQ is coordinating with EPA Region 4 on air‑quality guidance and temporary relaxations where federal action allows. Waste-management staff noted the challenge of landfill capacity and described efforts to divert recoverable wood and recyclables and to identify off‑state disposal options.
Why it matters: the briefing gave commissioners a cross‑divisional picture of immediate public-health priorities, infrastructure triage and the logistics of large-scale debris management, and previewed regulatory flexibilities DEQ is using during recovery. Commissioners and staff discussed lessons learned, long‑term restoration funding and the need to vet statewide changes such as temporary authority to accept domestic septage or to allow controlled burning under constrained circumstances.
Next steps: DEQ will continue mobilizing field teams, finalize guidance on debris-site approvals and burning, release datasets (including landfill PFAS sampling) to the public in coming days, and work with FEMA and the Corps on debris missions and reimbursement pathways.
