DECEMBER 22, 2009 ISSUE
Citizens Opposed to Boone Water Intake Prep Comments for USDA
Public Has Until January 4 To Submit Comments on Environmental Assessment
Several citizens opposed to the Town of Boone’s planned raw water intake in the Todd area of Watauga County plan to submit comments opposing the project to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the agency providing a loan to the town for the project.
The environmental assessment prepared for the water intake facility, to be located on the South Fork of the New River in the Brownwood area near Todd, was recently made available for public review and comments. The assessment was prepared by engineering firm W.K. Dickson & Company, which is also the project engineer.
Comments must be received—not postmarked—by Monday, January 4, 2010, at the USDA Rural Development office in Jefferson, and comments must be sent by mail.
Boone officials say the town needs more water because a 2004 study found that Boone is rapidly approaching capacity from existing water sources.
The proposed water intake facility would draw 4 million gallons per day (mgd) from the South Fork of the New River. The current plan is for the intake to be located in the riverbed and under the river. The 30-by-50-foot raw water intake pump station would be constructed along the south bank. Raw water would then be transmitted by water lines to Boone’s water treatment plant on Deck Hill Road.
Boone’s wastewater treatment plant discharges treated wastewater back into the New River about 23 river miles upstream of the proposed intake site. The town already has one water intake site located on the New River in the Boone area.
In November 2008, Boone voters approved a $25 million bond referendum for a new water source along the South Fork of the New River.
The assessment found that no impacts are anticipated to federally protected species, historically significant resources or the viewshed in the Brownwood area and that a water intake located beneath the riverbed will not result in any permanent negative impacts to aesthetics, recreation or stream flow.
But citizens opposed to the water intake project question Boone’s need for 4 mgd and argue that Ashe County residents should have input in the matter because the project will affect the entire region, not just Boone.
“My biggest concern is that it’s happening in our community, and we haven’t had a voice,” said Martha Enzmann, a resident of the Todd area. “It should not be done without everyone having a voice. It affects everyone in the region.”
She noted that the June 23 public meeting held by the Boone Town Council and the Ashe County Commissioners has been the only meeting held to gather input from Ashe County citizens.
Enzmann also questioned the validity of the entire process. It seems to be a conflict of interest for W.K. Dickson, the project engineer for the water intake, to also prepare the environmental assessment on the project, she said. And early on, she said, an official from the USDA told concerned residents that although their comments and concerns would be taken into consideration, the USDA has never turned down a loan application.
“The whole process that’s happening—it doesn’t seem to be valid,” she said.
Because Boone has experienced declining water usage over the past year, Enzmann also doubts the need for so much water from the New River. At a Boone Water Study Committee meeting held December 7, Public Utilities Director Rick Miller said he believed declining usage was due not only to conservation measures but also to the economy.
“Boone says it needs the water for growth, but growth will fuel the need for water. It’s a closed circle,” Enzmann said. “I don’t see any long-range planning.”
Frank Packard is a resident of the Brownwood area whose home is very close to the planned site for the water intake. He said he has read parts of the environmental assessment and does plan to submit comments to the USDA.
“To be honest, it’s a lot of the same stuff that was put out there before,” Packard said. “It’s all directed, in my opinion, to support the Boone position.”
Packard said he does not believe the assessment demonstrates the need for so much water from the New River.
“I think the numbers don’t justify that they need that big a water intake,” he said.
Packard said he also doubts there will not be significant damage to the New River, as the assessment states. He also mentioned another major concern cited by citizens opposed to the water intake—the issue of wastewater pharmaceuticals released back into the river by the Boone water treatment plant.
Boone officials have said there are no state or federal regulations requiring the treatment of pharmaceuticals in wastewater. The assessment also stated that little is known about the effects of wastewater pharmaceuticals on human and environmental health.
However, tests by biology and chemistry faculty at ASU indicate that birth control and estrogen supplements found downstream from where the Boone water treatment plant releases treated wastewater into the New River have caused feminization in some male species of fish.
“If you don’t know, you should err on the side of public safety,” Packard said.
Mia Hartsook, who lives about two miles from the New River in the Brownwood area, has been a vocal opponent of the water intake project. Hartsook said the levels of pharmaceuticals in the New River will only become more concentrated because the proposed intake is located downstream of Boone’s wastewater release site.
“People in Boone should know that is their drinking water supply,” Hartsook said. And, she said, “This will affect everything thousands of miles downstream, for decades to come.”
Hartsook said she felt the assessment did not consider the historical significance of the New River itself.
“I’m concerned because all these things only consider the New River as if it were some other river,” she said. “The New River is not just any river.” The New River is believed to be the second oldest river in the world and in 1998 was designated as an American Heritage River.
Public comments should be made to Sandra Lawrence at USDA, Rural Development at 134 Government Circle, Suite 201 in Jefferson, NC 28640. For more information, call 336-246-8818.
Copies of the environmental assessment will be available for review during normal business hours at the USDA Rural Development Office, located at 134 Government Circle, Suite 201 in Jefferson; at Boone Town Hall, located at 567 West King Street in Boone; and at Boone Public Utilities Department, located at 321 East King Street in Boone.
A .pdf version of the document can be downloaded by clicking to www.townofboone.net.
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