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Tens of thousands of dead fish found in Chattanooga creek [photos]

Tens of thousands of dead and dying fish have been found in a small creek off DuPont Parkway. Tens of thousands of dead and dying fish have been found in a small creek off DuPont Parkway.

By Mark Pace February 23, 2018 3 min read

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Tens of thousands of dead fish found in Chattanooga creek

Chattanooga Times Free Press/ Mark Pace - Tens of thousands of fish perish Thursday in a small, unnamed tributary running parallel to Dupont Parkway in Hixson. The small stream feeds into the Tennessee River across from the Tennessee Riverpark.

Chattanooga Times Free Press/ Mark Pace - TWRA biologist Bobby Brown investigates after tens of thousands of fish died in a small, unnamed tributary running parallel to Dupont Parkway in Hixson. The small stream feeds into the Tennessee River across from the Tennessee Riverpark.

Tens of thousands of fish perish Thursday in a small, unnamed tributary running parallel to Dupont Parkway in Hixson. The small stream feeds into the Tennessee River across from the Tennessee Riverpark.

Tens of thousands of fish threadfin and gizzard shad perish Thursday in a small, unnamed tributary that runs parallel to Dupont Parkway in Hixson. The small stream feeds into the Tennessee River across from the Tennessee Riverpark.

At least tens of thousands of dead and dying fish were found in a small creek off Dupont Parkway near the Tennessee River Wednesday, launching an investigation Thursday morning.

The cause of the incident is up for debate. The investigating agencies – Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation – have not determined a culprit, but city officials and Tennessee Valley Authority biologists believe the incident is weather related.

“At this point, officials believe that the cause is related to weather occurrences earlier this week, including recent increases in the water temperature and rainfall levels that are higher than normal,” Chattanooga Public Works Administrator Justin Holland wrote in a statement. ” we consider this to be a natural event outside of our control.”

The fish were piled for hundreds of yards in the unnamed creek behind Memphis and Atlanta drives near Dupont Elementary. The creek pours into the Tennessee River directly across from Tennessee Riverpark.

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation became aware of the issue Wednesday and notified TWRA and the city, according to a statement from agency spokeswoman Kim Schofinski. TWRA is leading the investigation, but the TDEC Division of Water Resources staff also plans to investigate.