News

Neuse Riverkeeper Samantha Krop and Water Quality Specialist Taylor Register were back in the field on Tuesday for a follow-up round of water-quality testing at BIOX Renewables in Wayne County.

What they found was ongoing pollution of Nahunta Swamp by a biogas facility no longer in operation.

“The ditch next to the facility and our new sample site — the west ditch on the opposite end of the facility — both came back with maxed out E. coli levels,” Taylor said. “That means the levels of bacteria are higher than what we can measure in our lab without diluting the sample. So, to us, these results feel like pretty good evidence to show that BIOX is still pumping waste out into the swamp.”

The ongoing pollution was confirmed by a separate source.

“Our last round of sampling in March showed pretty high levels of E. coli coming out of the drainage ditch that leads to Nahunta Swamp, which was of course a red flag, but the real concerning thing was when we got our nutrient results back,” Taylor said.

Since nutrient testing was done by an outside lab, the return on results from samples taken in mid-February took a couple of weeks. What they showed was total Nitrogen levels at 24 mg/L, where the maximum should be 2 mg/L.

“To be 12 times higher than what is considered normal, and to be draining right into the swamp, clearly indicates that something is still going on,” Taylor said. “Whether that is a lack of cleanup and residual levels from the slurry that was being piped out back in January, or an entirely separate issue that is now happening, we’re not fully sure, but our follow-up investigation was definitely warranted.”

This latest visit is the third since an anonymous caller reported in January that the new owners of a biogas facility, BIOX Renewables, LLC, were pumping the contents of a covered waste lagoon — a mixture of swine waste, dead hogs and expired factory meat — into adjacent agricultural fields and forest. The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality also inspected the facility and issued a notice of violation to BIOX, citing seven separate violations: failure to prevent wastewater from entering ditches that drain to Nahunta Swamp; failure to maintain treatment and irrigation systems in accordance with approved waste management plan; failure to secure a licensed operator to maintain the waste management system; and failure to conduct necessary inspections of the site and systems.

On Tuesday, Taylor submitted a second round of samples to the lab to test for nutrients.

“Now it’s just a matter of waiting to see what the results show and if we get any more reports of contaminated discharge from the facility,” she said. “BIOX currently has a notice of violation from DEQ, but we haven’t heard much on the exact status of that yet and currently have seen no evidence of cleanup or remediation on the facility’s end. So, as we learn new information from our sampling, we’re sending that over to DEQ as well, in case it influences any more regulatory action on their part.”

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