May 29, 2008 issue
Todd, Ashe County Residents Speak Out Against Proposed New Raw Water Intake for Boone
Story by Sam Calhoun
Residents of Todd and Ashe County made up the majority of speakers at Tuesday’s environmental scoping meeting at the Boone Town Council Chambers. The purpose of the meeting was to give members of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development and W.K. Dickson engineering firm the opportunity to hear citizens’ concerns about the Town of Boone’s proposed new raw water intake site.
The Proposed Project
On Thursday, May 8, Boone Mayor Loretta Clawson announced that the Town of Boone had entered into a contract to acquire ten acres of property along the New River—roughly 12 miles from Boone on the Ashe and Watauga County line—for the purpose of developing a new raw water intake. The new intake site, coupled with existing intakes on Winkler’s Creek and the South Fork of the New River, will provide a sufficient amount of water to meet the town’s 20-year needs, according to Clawson.
Brian Tripp and Ward Marotti of W.K. Dickson—the firm contracted by the Town of Boone to handle the project—presented a project overview at the meeting on Tuesday. The major elements of the project, according to Tripp, are a new 4 million gallons per day raw water intake structure on the South Fork of the New River, near Brownwood, just west of the Watauga and Ashe County line; approximately 63,000 linear feet of raw water transmission line to connect the proposed intake to Boone’s water treatment plant on Deck Hill Road; and onsite improvements at the water treatment plant to increase its capacity from 3 million gallons per day to 4.5 million gallons per day.
According to Boone Public Utilities Director Rick Miller, the contract on the land is valid until the end of 2008. Miller said the Town of Boone is purchasing the land from the Cooper family for $850,000, with the money coming from the Town of Boone’s general fund.
The Process Begins
The Town of Boone, USDA Rural Development and W.K. Dickson organized the meeting to hear citizens’ concerns before starting work on an environmental assessment that will determine if the proposed site is suitable for a new raw water intake facility.
USDA Rural Development’s Tom Honeycutt explained that his organization is “unique in what it does because it provides long-term financing for water and sewer projects,” acting as a credit agency for rural areas, not big cities, such as Charlotte, Winston-Salem or Raleigh. Honeycutt said USDA Rural Development received an application from the Town of Boone for a water improvement project after North Carolina Governor Mike Easley designated the town as a Tier 1 Critical Need area.
“Boone wants help meeting those needs. The USDA requires that, after receiving an application, we have to go through an environmental review before we make a decision,” said Honeycutt. “But I want people to know, the agency has made no final decisions on the project at this time.”
Honeycutt said the scoping meeting was organized to inform the public about the project and to give people a chance to offer comments and concerns about the environmental issues associated with the project.
“We don’t have all the answers tonight about environmental issues, but we want to hear from you,” said Honeycutt.
“It’s a process,” Ned Gillispie, state environmental coordinator for USDA Rural Development, reminded attendees. Gillispie said that federal laws apply to the project because federal funds will be used if the project goes forward. Because federal funds could be used, Gillispie is required by law to conduct an environmental assessment. “That’s why we go through this stuff early,” he said.
Gillispie said that many other state and federal agencies—such as the North Carolina Division of Water Quality, the North Carolina Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Commission—will have to “scope out” the project as well before any physical steps are taken.
“We don’t try to rush through this,” said Gillispie. “And the public will also get to review the environmental assessment once it is completed and be able to write in and changes can be made.”
Once the environmental assessment is completed, the Town of Boone will apply for a permit from the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources and start acquiring proper permits for the construction of the transport lines. The permitting process, said Miller, can take up to two years.
If the Town of Boone receives the permits, it will call for a general obligation bond referendum to pay for the project. Partial funding for the project, said Miller, may also come from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Citizens Respond
All 12 speakers at Tuesday’s meeting voiced opposition to the proposed project.
George Santucci, director of the National Committee for the New River, said that he understood that no matter how the Town of Boone gets more water it will have to come from the New River. However, Santucci said he thinks the Town of Boone is overestimating the flow and health of the river and wants to make sure that the town will do everything in its power to protect the river. He suggested that W.K. Dickson look into establishing riparian buffers at the site, as well as limiting development at the site.
Todd resident Beth Morrison questioned the town’s tactics in advertising the proposed project and scoping meeting. Morrison was angered that no notice of the meeting appeared in any news publications in Ashe County—an area downstream of the proposed facility that, according to Morrison, will be negatively affected by its construction.
Todd resident Emily Ensman said that the project symbolized a larger town—Boone—stealing natural resources from a smaller, helpless town—Todd. Ensman worried about damages to the river and its wildlife, a sentiment repeated by many at the meeting, including Todd business owner Kelly McCoy.
McCoy said that the New River’s trout population has suffered because of the recent drought and worried that the new facility will further lower the level of the river.
“The river is what we have here in Todd,” said McCoy. “And we’re concerned because it was so low last year.”
Barbara Benson, an Ashe County resident representing a neighborhood roughly two miles downriver from the proposed site, said she was very concerned that no notice of the proposed project was given to residents of Ashe County.
“I saw nothing in Ashe County [about the project or meeting] and that’s where the environmental impact will be,” said Benson.
Honeycutt answered Benson’s concern, “The environmental study will include up and downstream effects.”
Fleetwood resident Fred Woolard said it was “suspicious” that the project was not advertised in Ashe County, as well as that it is proposed to be located 12 miles from the center of Boone. He asked the USDA to reject the project on the basis that the Town of Boone is overextending its water capacity and growing beyond its means.
“This is only the beginning of the process,” said Marotti. “This is not a summary of the process.”
“We don’t have all the answers, but that is part of this meeting,” added Tripp.
“The town has the intent to make this project as low impact as possible,” said Honeycutt.
USDA Rural Development and W.K. Dickson are starting work on the environmental assessment, and will not release details of the assessment until it is completed.
Citizens can provide written comments for consideration in the environmental assessment by submitting them by Tuesday, June 10, to either USDA Rural Development, Attention Sandy Lawrence, Jefferson Area Office, 134 Government Circle, Suite 201, Jefferson, NC 28640; or Town of Boone, Attention Greg Young, PO Box 192, Boone, NC 28607.
Community Interest
News & Notes
Events
Arts & Entertainment
