News

Pamlico-Tar Riverkeeper Katey Zimmerman and Neuse Riverkeeper Samantha Krop will be hosting a public comments workshop for those interested in speaking at the upcoming public hearing for a Blounts Creek wastewater permit.

“This workshop is really for anyone who is thinking about speaking at the public hearing, but maybe is nervous about doing so, or doesn’t know quite what to say,” Katey said. “We’ll be sharing tips and tricks, what to expect — so if you’ve never given public comments before, you should come see what it’s all about, before the event.”

The Blounts Creek public comments workshop will be held on Nov. 6, from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at Highwater Social on the south side of the Pamlico River. The event is free and all who plan to attend the public hearing are welcome to attend.

Highwater Social is located at 980 U.S. Highway 17 Business, Washington, NC 27889, at the front of the building housing Inner Banks Marina, a dry-stack storage and marina facility.

Background on the issue

Mining company Martin Marietta Materials recently applied to renew its wastewater permit for a 649-acre limestone mine in Vanceboro, a permit that would potentially discharge up to 12 million gallons of fresh water per day into the brackish tributary of the Pamlico River in Beaufort County.

In 2011, Martin Marietta applied for the initial NPDES (National Pollution Discharge Elimination System) permit, and what followed was heated, standing-room-only public hearings, the rise of the Save Blounts Creek grassroots movement and, when NCDEQ issued the permit, a Sound Rivers lawsuit that bounced around the court system for more than a decade.

The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled last year that NCDEQ was correct to issue the permit, though the change in pH of the creek due to the wastewater could permanently alter the creek and its ability to support aquatic species.

When the application to renew the permit was announced in August, nearly 500 comments about the mine and its potential impacts were submitted to DEQ, via Sound Rivers’ Action Alert, a postcard-writing party held at Two Rivers Alehouse in Washington and by individuals, which expressed sufficient public interest to require NCDEQ hold a public hearing about the permit renewal.

The public hearing will be held at 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 in the Boyette Conference Center in Building 10 on Beaufort County Community College’s campus in Washington. Speaker registration is required. A sign-up sheet will be available starting at 5 p.m.

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