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In a win for Sound Rivers and new and old supporters of the Save Blounts Creek movement, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has approved a public hearing to hear public input about a mining company’s application to renew a wastewater permit issued a decade ago.

“It was great work on everyone’s part up to this point to get the public hearing granted,” said Pamlico-Tar Riverkeeper Katey Zimmerman.

In August, Martin Marietta Materials applied to renew its wastewater permit for a 649-acre limestone mine in Vanceboro. The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality opened a public comment period on the proposed permit. More than 400 comments about the mine and its potential impacts have been submitted to DEQ so far. On Tuesday, Division of Water Resources staff granted the request for a public hearing. The public hearing will be held in November, the date and location to be announced.

“It’s really powerful that so many people are still interested in this project and passionate about it so many years later, and are able to rally themselves and their community,” Katey said.

There’s 13 years of history between Sound Rivers and the proposed Blounts Creek mine.

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 permit issued by NCDEQ allows Martin Marietta Materials’ limestone mine to discharge up to 12 million gallons of fresh water per day into the headwaters of the brackish tributary of the Pamlico River in Beaufort County. 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.

Concern for the creek is what brought 70 people out to an information-sharing meeting held at Cotton Patch Landing on Blounts Creek last month, and a crowd to attend a postcard-signing party Katey and Neuse Riverkeeper Samantha Krop hosted at Two Rivers Alehouse in downtown Washington last week.

“I didn’t know how many people would show up, but we probably had about 30 people total coming in and out,” Katey said. “Everyone wanted to chat about Blounts Creek; everyone signed postcards — people took them home for friends to sign. I actually ran out and had to come back to office to print some more.”

The public comment period for the permit renewal application — initially scheduled to end on Sept. 23 — has now been extended until the public hearing.

“If anyone has any more questions about the permit or wants to dig more into the technical stuff to write more comments, then they have more time to do so now,” Katey said.

She’s looking forward to drawing a large crowd to the November hearing.

“Keep talking about it — we want as many people to attend the public hearing as possible,” she said.

Want to make your voice heard? Use our Action Alert to send your Blounts Creek comments to NCDEQ today!