20111013 Ver 2_Public Comments_20130410

CYRG
April 5, 2013
To: NC Division of Water Quality
Wetlands and Storm Water Branch
1650 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699 -1650.
Attn: Cyndi Karoly
RE: Blounts Creek Quarry
To whom it may concern,
1t -1013 V2-
I am writing to voice our opposition to the proposed quarry in the headwaters of Blounts Creek.
The Coastal Fisheries Reform Group opposes the construction of this quart' for the following
reasons:
1. The quart' will pump 9 million gallons of water per day from the aquifer in order to wash rocks.
Our aquifers have gotten dangerously low and the removal of this much water on a permanent daily
basis will be detrimental.
2. The quarry will dispose of its 9 million gallons of wash water every day by dumping it into feeder
streams that lead into the headwaters of Blounts Creek and ultimately into the Pamlico River. This
will cause a major ecological change in this area due to both the alteration of pH and the influx of
fresh water. The Pamlico River is already challenged by the infusion of fresh water from the
phosphate mine a short distance downstream from Blounts Creek.
Many species of important estuarine fish, including striped bass, speckled sea trout, and red
drum, spawn and are nurtured in the sheltered waters of Blounts Creek. These fish spend much of
their life cycle in Blounts Creek and surrounding estuarine and fresh waters. Blounts Creek is a
productive and popular fishing and recreational area. The huge influx of waste water from the aquifer
every day will change the fragile and productive ecology of Blounts Creek and surrounding waters.
Another important factor to consider is the very low turnover rate of water in Blounts Creek due to its
narrow opening into the Pamlico River. This fact increases the adverse impact of the large
freshwater influx from the proposed quarry and any toxic spill from the quarry will be devastating as it
concentrates in the bay. The adverse affects of spills will be virtually impossible to remediate.
oodduck Maol.com)
Coastal Fisheries Reform Group (http: / /drgnc.blogspot.com /)
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PR 2013
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