News

Sound Rivers’ staff took to the air last week to find out whether mining operations have started at Martin Marietta Material’s Vanceboro quarry.

“Last Friday, (Pamlico-Tar Riverkeeper Katey Zimmerman) and I took a flight out of Washington to do some investigating in Blount’s Creek. Our goal with this trip was to fly over the Martin Marietta Vanceboro quarry and see if there was any sort of development happening,” said Taylor Register, Sound Rivers’ water quality specialist.

In February, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality issued a wastewater discharge permit for the limestone mining operation. The permit’s issuance marked a new chapter in Sound Rivers’ 13-year legal battle to prevent the mine from discharging up to 12 million gallons of fresh water per day into the brackish Blounts Creek, potentially jeopardizing its entire ecosystem.

Now the Riverkeeping team has set its sights on monitoring impacts to Blounts Creek.

“In the past month, we were alerted that a brand-new sign was put up on the road leading to the project site, so naturally we assumed that groundbreaking was either already happening or would begin soon,” Taylor said.

She said flyovers appear to be the only way they can find out whether the mine has started operating.

“We’ve been trying to get some answers as far as development timelines and when the facility will actually start discharging, but we haven’t been able to get any information whatsoever,” Taylor said. “There’s not much we can see from the ground without actually going onto the site, which of course we can’t do, so a flyover was our best option for getting the answers we needed. It was a quick flight over to the site, but even after circling the area several times, it was clear that no development has started yet.”

Taylor and Katey took photos of the undisturbed project area to serve as an aerial “before and after” once the mine is in operation.

“I foresee some more flights in our future to check-in on the progress of the mine, that way we can be prepared to start monitoring for negative effects to Blount’s Creek as soon as they start discharging. But as of now, it’s a matter of waiting for them to get started, and there’s no telling when that’ll be,” Taylor said.

Thanks, as always, to the great work of volunteer SouthWings pilot Rolf Wallin!

Like the work your Riverkeeping team is doing to monitor and protect your waterways? We do, too! Donate today to support their work on Blounts Creek!