News

Developers of an industrial park in Johnston County have asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to allow destruction of wetlands.

The industrial park will be located near the towns of Powhatan and Wilson Mills and is being advertised as a home for bioengineering facilities, according to Neuse Riverkeeper Samantha Krop.

“They’re proposing to impact 28.5 acres of wetlands and .7 acres of open water ponds,” Samantha said. “Those would be permanently impacted, so that means lost forever.”

The permit application also indicates an undisclosed number of acres will be impacted during construction of utilities infrastructure.

Redefinitions of wetlands at the federal level have increased the threat to wetlands across the country, and particularly in North Carolina where state law was also recently changed to prohibit environmental regulations more stringent than those of the federal government (Find out more here and here). Wetlands have many roles, including filtering pollutants from both stormwater and floodwater, was well as retaining stormwater runoff, preventing flooding.

“Destroying wetlands puts more waterways at risk and more communities at risk. It’s that easy,” Samantha said.

USACE is soliciting public comments on the Johnston County Industrial Park (10040 U.S. Highway 70, Clayton) permit until Nov. 8. To comment, visit the USACE Regulatory Request system. The permit application number is SAW-2025-01751. Or send your comment by email to Christopher.D.Hopper@usace.army.mil.

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