SEPTEMBER 29, 2011 ISSUE
Friday Last Day to Comment on New River Reclassification Request
Objection Letters Could Trigger Legislative Review
A heron wades through the waters of the New River. Photo by Anna Oakes“
We’re still trying to do what we can to try to get the process stopped.
” —Frank Packard, ToddThis Friday, September 30, is the final day to submit public comments on the requested reclassification of the South Fork of the New River to the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
The new surface water classification is the next step in the Town of Boone’s efforts to secure a permit to build a new 4-million-gallon-per-day raw water intake facility on the South Fork of the New River in the Brownwood area near Todd.
Boone is seeking a WS-IV classification for the area located upstream from its proposed water intake site in the Brownwood area, which includes areas along N.C. Highway 194, Big Hill Road, Three Top Road, Castle Ford Road and Railroad Grade Road, as well as the tributaries of Pine Orchard Creek, Elk Creek, Little Elk Creek and Grassy Creek.
After a review from the state’s Water Quality Committee, the Environmental Management Commission (EMC) reviewed the request in May and moved to forward the request on to public hearing. A public hearing took place August 30 at Green Valley School, and public comments will be accepted until Friday.
Elizabeth Kountis, senior environmental specialist with the Division of Water Quality, said she expects the EMC, which meets every two months, to take up the request again at its January meeting.
If the EMC adopts the proposed surface water classification, it will then be subject to review by the Rules Review Commission. The Rules Review Commission is an executive agency appointed by the General Assembly that is charged with reviewing and approving rules adopted by state agencies.
Kountis said the Rules Review Commission would likely review the reclassification request (if adopted by the EMC) about a month after the EMC meeting. The date of the February 2012 commission meeting is February 16 in Raleigh.
If the Rules Review Commission receives 10 or more written and signed letters objecting to the rule (the reclassification) by 5:00 p.m. on the day following the commission’s approval of the rule, the rule is then subject to legislative review. If a bill disapproving the rule is introduced before the 31st legislative day of the General Assembly’s regular session and enacted into law, the rule will not become effective.
Kountis said the objection letters can come from anyone, including citizens and local governments. The commission will receive objections by mail, delivery service, hand delivery or facsimile transmission. For questions about the submission of objections to the Rules Review Commission, call the staff attorney at 919-431-3000.
In November 2008, Boone voters approved a $25 million bond referendum for a new water source.
The planned facility includes an intake on the river and a 30-by-50-foot raw water intake pump station 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.
The reclassification isn’t the final step in the Town of Boone’s permitting process for the intake facility.
“We’re just a piece of the puzzle,” Kountis said.
Frank Packard of Todd is among a number of folks in Todd and other Ashe County areas downstream of the proposed intake who oppose the new facility. They say the town hasn’t demonstrated the need for such a facility (as water demand has decreased since peaking several years ago) and that it hasn’t fully addressed the potential impacts on stream quality, including pharmaceutical contamination.
“We’re still trying to do what we can to try to get the process stopped,” Packard said.
Packard said he has emailed state Sen. Dan Soucek twice and will not stop until he receives a response.
“They need to respond and be aware that there are citizens in Ashe County who they represent who are opposed to this,” he said.
Comments on the reclassification request for consideration before the EMC meeting in January can be faxed to Kountis at 919-807-6497 or emailed to elizabeth.kountis@ncdenr.gov by this Friday.
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