Elaine Chiosso - Haw Rivekeeper Assembly ATTACHMENT

P.O. Box 187 Bynum NC 27228 (919) 542 -5790 info @hawriver.org
Mr. Justin Bashaw
USACE Wilmington District
69 Darlington Avenue Wilmington,
NC 28403 -1343
[e-mail]
Re: Environmental Assessment for Jordan Lake SolarBee Project
Dear Mr. Bashaw:
The Haw River Assembly has the following comments on the Environmental Assessment for
Jordan Lake SolarBee Project (EA) prepared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ( USACE) and
the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources ( NCDENR).
Jordan Lake is a major recreational lake in the Triangle, and drinking water source for over
300,000 people. A million people visit the lake each year to camp, swim, boat, paddle, or fish.
It is also a major reservoir that has not been able to meet water quality standards due to incoming
nutrient pollution almost since it was first built, due to the loads of pollution it receives from
upstream cities, suburbs, and farms.
Jordan Lake first appeared on the list of North Carolina impaired waters (Section 303(d) of the
Clean Water Act) in 2002, listed as impaired for chlorophyll a, an indicator of nutrient pollution.
By 2007, NCDENR had identified all management areas of Jordan Reservoir in the Cape Fear
River Basin as impaired by chlorophyll a, triggering the federal mandate for new state reductions
in nutrients as well as a federal Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). Following a lengthy
stakeholder process and public input the NC legislature finally passed the Jordan Lake Nutrient
Management Strategy, known as the Jordan Lake Rules, in 2009. The Haw River Assembly was
a key stakeholder in the 7 years it took to get the rules finally signed into law. We looked forward
to the process of nutrient pollution from all sources upstream of the lake, non -point and point
source, finally being reduced so that Jordan Lake could meet standards for clean water.
Since the passage of the Jordan Lake rules in 2009 we have been increasingly disturbed at
legislative efforts that have delayed their implementation. This has been initiated by upstream
communities and we and other stakeholders, including downstream governments, have objected
strongly, but without success, as various parts of the rules have been stalled and very little has
been done to reduce the nutrients flowing into Jordan Lake. Now we have this plan by the State
of North Carolina to put dozens of SolarBee water aerators into the lake as an experiment to
reduce chlorophyll a in parts of the reservoir — a very ill- advised idea.

Instead of moving forward with the cleanup, the state has proposed to float 33 solar - powered
mixers (`SolarBees'), each 16' long x 16' wide x 2' high, in two sections of the lake, in hopes
that algae won't grow in the moving water. There is no evidence these will work in Jordan Lake
and we have not found sound evidence that they have ever worked in reservoirs of this size. They
will not reduce pollution, and could be hazardous to boaters and wildlife.
The Solar Bees have a low profile on the water. Even if the mixers have lights, it will be easy for
someone traveling fast to crash into them and be injured. I urge you to imagine the scenario
during summer weekends — and especially holidays - when there are practically traffic jams at the
lake with power boats, water skiers, jet skis, small fishing crafts, sailboats and paddlers out in
force, even after dark. These hazards have not been adequately addressed in the EA , nor has the
amout of boating traffic been described. We are equally concerned that SolarBees placed in the
fast - moving waters of the Haw River arm, even back in coves, could be damaged or unmoored
during floods, creating additional hazards (and new trash form of trash to be cleaned up from the
lake). Have Solar Bees ever been used in the kind of conditions we find on the Haw River arm of
Jordan Lake?
The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission ( "WRC ") recommended that "intake
structures have passive screens with openings not to exceed one centimeter and with a maximum
intake velocity of 0.5 feet /sec to minimize impingement and /or entrainment of fish." This call for
a screen to keep fish from entering the circulators was rejected, stating a screen would reduce the
efficiency of the circulators, and that small fish could pass through unharmed The EA does not
give the kind of information needed to support these claims.
Jordan Lake is owned by the federal government and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, and this request to put SolarBees in Jordan Lake requires your consent. We do not
believe that you should permit NC DENR to allow the construction of anchors on the lake floor
and placement of these SolarBees. We do not believe this EA provides sufficient justification to
proceed with approval for installing SolarBees at Jordan Lake as demanded under the National
Environmental Policy Act.
The EA does not adequately describe the need nor the actual source of the nutrient pollution in
Jordan Lake, nor does it adequately consider direct, indirect, or cumulative impacts of these
SolarBees. Rather, the purpose of the "experiment" appears to be whether North Carolina can
reduce chlorophyll a sufficiently to continue delaying implementation of the Jordan Lake Rules.
But the Rules were never meant to reduce the symptom of pollution (algae growth) but the cause
of it (nutrient pollution).
Furthermore, the EA does not consider any alternatives to reducing algae growth in Jordan Lake
other than "in- lake" circulation technologies. Why does it not state the obvious true alternative -
the Jordan Lake Rules to reduce the source of nutrient pollution that feeds the algae? This
experiment" using a large number of identical and potentially hazardous aerators at Jordan Lake
would not in my opinion even qualify for an experiment under grade school standards for
Science Fairs. This proposal from the state results in a very strange explanation of the
consequences of "no action " -- which of course would be the very real action of allowing the

Jordan Lake rules to be implemented immediately as mandated by both the TMDL and original
legislation.
Another serious consideration is the fact that the legislation authorizing NC funding of these
devices set forth the goal that if this SolarBee experiment were to "succeed" that it would be
followed -up with a very large number of additional SolarBees — creating even more hazards to
wildlife and boaters and many more years of increasing nutrient pollution at Jordan Lake. Will
this be the precedent for all US ACE reservoirs in North Carolina with nutrient pollution
problems?
Im conclusion, we believe that this EA is woefully inadequate in providing the information
required under NEPA. This project may also need a permit under the federal Rivers and Harbors
Act which prohibits the unauthorized obstruction or alteration of navigable waters of the United
States, such as Jordan Lake. It may potentially be in violation of the Clean Water Act due to its
specific goal to use waters of the United States for in- stream pollution treatment, in this case
reduction of chlorphyl a.
We beleive this EA fails to meet NEPA requirements, and we urge the US Army Corps of
Engineers not to grant a property interest or permit tethering of these SolarBee mixers in Jordan
Lake.
Thank you for consideration of our comments.
r
Elaine Chiosso
Haw Riverkeeper
Haw River Assembly
P.O.Box 187
Bynum NC 27228
(919) 542 -5790
chiossokhawriver. org
www.hawriver.org