ATTENTION EDITORS AND ENVIRONMENT REPORTERS:
BACKGROUND ON NORTH CAROLINA’S 1998 ENVIRONMENTAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Note: In an effort to assist you in your year-end roundup assignments, I have compiled the attached summary of major environmental accomplishments for 1998. For more information about these and other environmental activities during 1998, please refer to the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources web site at /.
I will not be taking any leave during the holidays so please feel free to contact me at (919) 715-4112 if you need any information or assistance. State offices will be closed Dec. 24 & 25 and January 1. During non-working hours and holidays, I can be reached at home for emergencies at (919) 848-2399.
On behalf of the DENR Public Affairs staff and its public information officers, I wish you a joyous and safe holiday season.
Sincerely,
Don Reuter
1998 Environmental Accomplishments
Clean Water Bond Referendum - On Nov. 3, 1998, North Carolina voters overwhelmingly approved an $800 million clean water bond referendum. The clean water bonds provide $330 million in state grants to help local governments repair and improve water supply systems and wastewater collection and treatment, and to undertake water conservation and reuse projects. Another $300 million will be made available in clean water loans. Many communities need help improving water supplies and water treatment systems. Outdated systems, some more than 70 years old, are allowing millions of gallons of untreated or partially treated wastewater to spill into the state’s rivers and streams. Nearly 100 communities cannot bring in new businesses, or jobs, because their wastewater systems are already operating at or above capacity. The N.C. Rural Economic Development Center released a study which identified more than $11 billion in needs.
Governor Hunt's 1998 Clean Water Budget - On May 4, 1998, Governor Jim Hunt announced an aggressive clean water budget plan to continue the state's fight against pfiesteria and water pollution and to strengthen marine fisheries protection. The plan, included in the $77.7 million environmental budget passed by the General Assembly and signed by Governor Hunt, focuses on three key components -- prevention, detection and response -- to combat water pollution. The budget includes critical funding to reduce nutrients and sediments in North Carolina waterways, support the state's river basin planning program, provide more aggressive responses to fish kills and boost the state's compliance and enforcement efforts.
Smithfield Foods Permit - In September 1998, the state issued a new permit for the Smithfield Food Processing plant in Bladen County. The Division of Water Quality issued a permit which requires the slaughtering house to only accept animals from farms that have not received a fine for discharging animal waste to surface waters or wetlands, or where a grower has land applied waste in excess of an approved application rate.
Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program - The Clean Water Management Trust Fund committed $39.3 million over a six-year period to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for use in a proposed $274.6 million package to protect and restore North Carolina's waterways. On April 27, the fund trustees voted to support the proposal, which is pending in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The money will be used to purchase 100,000 acres of agricultural land next to rivers, streams, field ditches and wetlands, and install best management practices (BMPs). Eligible land must be actively and primarily in agricultural use. The proposal will cover three eastern river basins (Chowan, Tar-Pamlico, and Neuse) and the Jordan Lake watershed, where nutrient runoff from agricultural operations is a prominent water quality problem.
Neuse River Nutrient Sensitive Waters Strategy - The state Environmental Management Commission developed and approved a plan for managing the Neuse River's nutrient pollution problems. The strategy's goal is to reduce by 30 percent the loading of nitrogen into the Neuse River by municipalities, factories, developments and farmers. The five-year plan, which went into effect August 1, includes provisions involving protection of both sides of streams from nutrient run-off, wastewater discharges, stormwater management, agricultural BMPs, and application of nutrients to golf courses, recreational lands, residential, commercial, industrial, right-of-way or other turfgrass areas.
Jocassee Gorges State Park - Plunging waterfalls, rugged river gorges, sheer rock walls and rare plants will soon be protected in the first state park west of Asheville. DENR announced in May an agreement with Duke Energy for the state to acquire 9,641 acres of property in Transylvania County for a purchase price of $8.4 million. Plans include establishing a 6,725-acre state park along the Toxaway River in the Jocassee Gorges area. Preservation of the Gorges area has been touted as the premier land conservation opportunity of the decade. Placing the land in public ownership will preserve one of the most significant scenic and biological sites in eastern North America.
Nantahala Agreement - The state's Division of Water Resources helped negotiate an agreement between DENR and Nantahala Power and Light in the spring of 1998 to improve instream flows downstream of three of NP&L's major hydroelectric projects. The flow changes will improve fishing, aquatic habitat and recreational opportunities in a large area of southwestern North Carolina.
Dam Removals - One of the major roadblocks to improving fish migration in the state was the Quaker Neck Dam that straddled the Neuse River just below Goldsboro. In the first voluntary dam removal of its kind, Carolina Power & Light Co., owners of the dam, worked with several state and federal agencies to remove the dam in 1998. On May 28, concrete came crumbling down at the Cherry Hospital dam, as the state began removal of the dam that spans the Little River near Goldsboro. The dam removals will improve the spawning opportunities for fish that migrate up inland waters before returning to the ocean.
New River Designation - On July 30, Gov. Jim Hunt joined President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore at a ceremony in Ashe County celebrating the designation of the New River as an American Heritage River. The New River, believed to be the oldest river in North America, flows through Watauga, Ashe and Alleghany counties and into Virginia and West Virginia. It is one of 14 rivers receiving the national American Heritage River designation. The program is designed to ensure that communities along these rivers will get help implementing their plans for restoring and protecting the environmental, economic and cultural values of the rivers.
Lumber River Designation - In October, 81 miles of the Lumber River received additional protection when the river was designated as a National Wild and Scenic River by the U.S. Department of the Interior. The Lumber River is also preserved as a state park and has additional designations as a state Natural and Scenic River, a state canoe trail and for its outstanding water quality.
Shell Island - A New Hanover Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit against the state by the Shell Island Resort at Wrightsville Beach. Shell Island has asked a judge to allow a seawall in front of the hotel on Mason Inlet. The N.C. Coastal Resources Commission has banned seawall use on the North Carolina oceanfront, because seawalls damage beaches. The dismissal was an important victory in the state’s fight to keep its beaches healthy for future generations. (Note: The N.C. Supreme Court has declined to hear Shell Island's case directly; the case remains in the Court of Appeals.)
State Aquarium Expansion - The three North Carolina Aquariums will double their size and offer more educational opportunities to visitors, thanks to a $32 million appropriation included in the budget approved by the 1998 General Assembly.
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Date Posted: 1/6/99
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