News

Pamlico-Tar Riverkeeper Katey Zimmerman and Sound Rivers Executive Director Heather Deck will join forces with the Southern Environmental Law Center, East Carolina University’s Water Resources Center and Blounts Creek residents for a press conference next week.

The press conference will be held 5 p.m. before North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s 6 p.m. public hearing regarding a mining company’s application to renew a wastewater permit that could allow up to 12 million gallons of freshwater per day to flow into the brackish headwaters of Blounts Creek.

“We’re going to try to get as many people to the public hearing as possible to speak up and share their concerns about a permit that could potentially destroy Blounts Creek’s entire ecosystem,” Katey said.

Katey will lead off the press conference, followed by Heather to share the history of the Blounts Creek issue. SELC Senior Attorney Blakely Hildebrand will discuss how the Sound Rivers’ lawsuit challenging the permit bounced around the North Carolina court system for more than a decade before reaching its final outcome last year.

Read SELC’s public comments about the Blounts Creek wastewater permit here.

ECU Water Resources Center Lab and Field Manager Bobby Bowser will then speak about the Water Corps’ role in baseline monitoring of the creek to determine environmental impact, while Bob Daw, resident of Blounts Creek and co-founder of the grassroots Save Blounts Creek movement, will wrap up the press conference.

“The public comment period actually doesn’t end until the following day, so attending the public hearing is a great opportunity to learn more about this issue, and get ideas from other speakers, then follow up by writing an email to DEQ through our Action Alert,” Katey said.

In addition to the press conference before the hearing, there will be two food trucks on site: Buddy’s Girl, serving up American staples such as burgers and hotdogs, and Mama Y Papa’s Taqueria, specializing in tacos.

The hearing will be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, 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.

The written comment period ends the following day, Nov. 20, at 5 p.m.

Beaufort County Community College is located at 5337 U.S. Highway 264 East, Washington, NC 27889.

Want to comment about Martin Marietta Materials’ permit renewal application? Find out more and write your letter to NCDEQ using our Action Alert!

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