Neuse Riverkeeper Samantha Krop was in the air and in the field this week, tracking sediment pollution from Dominion Energy’s Moriah Energy Center (MEC) site in Person County.
On Monday, she hosted Inside Climate News reporter Lisa Sorg on an aerial tour to observe impacts of heavy rains by Tropical Storm Debby. On Tuesday, she did a walking tour of three separate creeks surrounding the property with three staff members from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Resources (NC DEQ DWR).
“All three of the creeks were running very turbid. In one place, you could see the difference between a clear creek and one running off the site: 6 FNU for one and 200 FNU for the other.
"There was a clear distinction between the clean and the dirty,” Samantha said. “Two creeks on the southern end of the property were about 1,000 FNU.”
FNUs (formazin nephelometric units) are the unit of measurement for turbidity, or water clarity. Fifty FNU is the state standard.
According to Samantha, DWR staff acknowledged that Dominion’s Moriah Energy Center site is responsible for the pollution, but a loophole in regulatory state law prevents action from being taken.
The issue, Samantha said, is that the regulations created to prevent sediment from pouring off clear-cut construction sites into the waterways are ineffective, but as long as the company is abiding by those regulations, there is little DWR can do.
“The rules are created to uphold the Clean Water Act standard, but they’re not working,” Samantha said. “Everyone acknowledges that Dominion is polluting the creeks but no one is willing to stop it.”
Samantha was accompanied on the ground tour by Andrea and Paul Childers, who have witnessed the impacts of the Moriah Energy Center construction on their neighboring property. Other property owners bordering the site invited them to tour their properties, as well.
“We had permission from all the neighbors because they’re all opposed to the facility,” Samantha said. “They’re enraged and heartbroken at the pollution in their backyard creeks. The Childers raised their children playing in those creeks, and now they’re too dirty to get into, and it’s just staying that way.”
The concern is not limited to muddied waters in the local streams, but potential impacts downstream in Deep Creek and Flat River, both home to endangered species such as the Neuse Waterdog.
“We are going to continue to document these impacts and call upon officials to hold Dominion accountable and stop polluting our creeks,” Samantha said.
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This article was published first by Sound Rivers.
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