INC NEWS - Saturday creek cleanup planned at Walltown Park (Herald-Sun)

[John Schelp]

Creek cleanup planned at park
Herald-Sun, 19 April 2007

The Friends of South Ellerbe Creek are holding an
Earth Day cleanup at Walltown Park at the intersection
of West Club Boulevard and Onslow Street near
Northgate Mall, from 9-11 a.m. Saturday. 

Volunteers will pick up litter from the creek. 

The City of Durham will provide refreshments and trash
bags. 

Volunteers will be furnished with work gloves, trash
bags, snacks and beverages. 

To volunteer or for more information, call Laura Webb
Smith at (919) 560-4326, ext. 235 or e-mail
laura.smith at durhamnc.gov.

****

Maps, pics & history of South Ellerbe Creek can be
found at http://www.owdna.org/fosec.htm

For more on other creek clean-ups and the full slate
of Durham Earth Day activities, go to
http://www.durhamearthday.org/service.html

Here's a recent article about the troubled waters in
the Neuse River watershed (which includes South
Ellerbe, Ellerbe, Eno, Little, etc)...

Neuse joins rivers in peril
News & Observer, 17 April 2007 

The Neuse River, which flows from the Triangle to the
Pamlico Sound, was named one of the nation's 10 most
endangered rivers today by a national conservation
group.

American Rivers, an advocacy group that compiles an
annual list of troubled waters, said the Neuse faces
growing threats from poorly planned development that
increases runoff pollution and factory hog farms that
dot Eastern North Carolina.

The Neuse rises in Durham County and flows
southeasterly for more than 250 miles past Raleigh,
Smithfield, Goldsboro and Kinston to the Pamlico
Sound. About 2 million people live in the river basin,
the report said.

Gerrit Jobsis, director of southeast conservation for
American Rivers, said the Neuse is at a crucial point,
with a moratorium on new hog farms set to expire in
September and many municipal sewage treatment plants
coming up for renewal of their discharge permits next
year.

"This is a critical year for the Neuse River to turn
the tide on pollution and ensure it's going to be a
healthy river for the region," Jobsis said.

American Rivers, which has published the annual list
since 1986, solicits nominations for troubled
waterways from outdoor clubs, local governments,
environmental organizations, riverkeepers and others,
Jobsis said. The Neuse was nominated by the Upper and
Lower Neuse Riverkeepers.

The report said urban development around the river's
headwaters and intense coastal development that is
moving upriver make the Neuse "the new frontier for
poorly planned development."

Near the river's upper end, Falls Lake, a man-made
reservoir that supplies drinking water to more than
400,000 people in Wake County, is showing signs of
pollution. It will likely go on the federal list of
polluted water bodies next year, the report says.

Tributaries carry treated sewage loaded with nitrogen
and phosphorous from Butner, Durham and Hillsborough
into the lake, spurring growth of aquatic plants.
Tests have found excessive levels of chlorophyll a --
an indicator of too much algae, which can cause taste
and odor problems and fish kills.

"We're in the process of analyzing the data," said
Nora Deamer, Neuse basin planner with the state
Division of Water Quality. "The data that I have
indicates that it will go on the list."

The report said development around the river threatens
to undo any progress made in improving the river's
water quality. In the past decade, state regulators
have required developers to build at least 50 feet
from the river and its tributaries, farmers to better
manage how they apply fertilizer, and sewage treatment
plants to reduce certain discharges.

The improvements came about after several years of the
Neuse being listed as a threatened river. In 1997,
images of millions of dead fish floating in the water
from massive fish kills prompted state regulators to
adopt a clean-up plan. The plan aimed to reduce by 30
percent the nitrogen reaching the Neuse River, and had
an effect on logging, development, sewage plants,
factories and farms. Nitrogen acts as fertilizer,
stimulating growth of aquatic plants and algal blooms.
When the plants die, their decomposition can rob the
water of oxygen and cause fish kills.

Since the 1997 rules, the incidence of fish kills has
dropped, but researchers have issued conflicting
studies about whether nitrogen levels in the Neuse
estuary have declined, increased or remained flat.
Meanwhile researchers have found "a striking increase
in ammonia concentrations" in the water, and noted a
lack of emphasis on controlling runoff and air
emissions from industrial hog and poultry farms.

North Carolina is the nation's second-largest hog
producer, after Iowa. About 9.5 million hogs are
raised each year on 2,300 factory farms concentrated
in Eastern North Carolina.

State leaders have been struggling with how to reduce
the water and air pollution caused by factory farms,
which produce huge volumes of manure and urine that
collect in open-air waste lagoons. Environmental
advocates are pressing lawmakers to replace the
10-year temporary ban on new farms with a permanent
law barring any more hog farms that handle waste in
lagoons and spray it on fields.

Dean Naujoks, the Upper Neuse Riverkeeper, said some
progress had been made in managing pollution around
the river, but more steps were needed, especially as
another 1 million people are projected to be living in
the river basin by 2020.

"Certainly, the development pressure is more the long
term issue," Naujoks said. "Everywhere development is
occurring, we're having degraded water quality."


TROUBLED WATERS
America's most endangered rivers of 2007 

1. Santa Fe River, New Mexico 

2. San Mateo Creek, California 

3. Iowa River, Iowa 

4. Upper Delaware River, New York 

5. White Salmon River, Washington 

6. Neches River, Texas 

7. Kinnickinnic River, Wisconsin 

8. Neuse River, North Carolina 

9. Lee Creek, Arkansas and Oklahoma 

10. Chuitna River, Alaska 

****