A dam broke on an irrigation pond at Balsam Mountain Preserve in Jackson County two weeks ago unleashing hundreds of tons of mud downstream.

A sediment plume extended from the Balsam Mountains all the way to Fontana Lake 30 miles away for days following the disaster. The mud slurry killed all the fish and most other aquatic life in Sugar Loaf and Scotts creeks, according to biologists from state and federal agencies who assessed the aftermath of the ecological catastrophe. Impacts to the Tuckasegee River — home to the endangered elktoe mussel — are still being assessed, but are considered serious.

The earthen dam was built a year ago by Balsam Mountain Preserve, a 4,500-acre development in Jackson County, to create an irrigation pond for its golf course. The disaster came as a shock to many given Balsam Mountain Preserve's status as an eco-development, a model even among hard-to-please environmentalists.

No one was injured in the initial wave of mud and water, but damage was plentiful. The yards of downstream neighbors were buried in mud and creek banks were sheared off.

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Original article in Smoky Mountain News...