To the Editor,
This letter is about a very important issue, which has been left unaddresed too long. Although it will be a long letter, it needs to be printed in it`s entirety. So please understand the importance of and my passion for this issue and bear with me.
The Town of Beaufort has been dealing with their sewer problems for as long as I can remember, and I`m 47 years old. The town is now about to accept a bid for $14,950,000 to build their new treatment plant. Beaufort does need a new treatment plant. The one they have is in bad shape and the technology is outdated. It`s capacity is already barely sufficient, at best. With Beaufort`s population growing at the pace it is, the present system will not handle the needs of the future. This leads one to ask, if and for how long will the upgraded system be sufficient, and what will be the effects on the environment. Depending on where you get your “facts” Beaufort is currently discharging 500,000 to 1,000,000 gallons of treated waste water in Taylors Creek per day. This water is usually treated with chlorine before discharging it. There have been numerous times that for one reason or another, non-treated water was discharged, causing shellfish areas to be closed and swimming bans to be posted. One area of shellfish bottom on the south side of Carrot Island measuring 427 acres was recently closed permanently and the area is expected to grow in size. There is currently a sign posted on the 1600 block of Front St. warning people not to swim in the area. All of this is for one reason only. Discharge from the Beaufort treatment plant.
Beaufort Town Manager Terri Parker-Eakes stated she believed they could keep rates the way they are until 2010-2011. The other side of this statement says there will be a rate hike around 2010-2011. That is only 3 to 4 years. If there is a rate hike there has to be a reason for it. The residents of Beaufort and Carteret County deserve better than to have their pockets emptied and waters polluted. The loss of revenue generated by area waters reaped economic disaster on Carteret County during what was known as Red Tide in 1987-1988. Without careful planning our waters could be lost forever. Thus ending the quality of life we have now, and becoming nothing more than a stagnated cesspool for dumping sewage and toxins.
There are other ways of disposing of waste-water. It could be used in several land application procedures, pumped into a man-made reservoir, with a vegetation based bio tech purification system, or it could be pumped far enough off-shore it would be diluted by the mass of the Atlantic Ocean to the point it would no longer be harmful to the environment or the economy. Beaufort has plans of reaching their full capacity, then start using their waste-water in land app. processes. It would be foolish to think that at that point Beaufort will voluntarily stop pumping their waste-water into Taylors Creek completely. Although some Town Board Members think it would be a good idea, others want to increase the amount of discharge. The N.C. Dept. of Shellfish Sanitation has done dye test studies to determine current flow direction and rates, and then made a recommendation to the Division of Water Quality to not allow Beaufort to increase their output. The DWQ denied Beaufort the permits to increase. There are regulations that must be strictly obeyed. The creeks and rivers shellfish grow in are the same ones we swim and catch other fish in. If an area is too polluted to eat the seafood from or swim in, the answer to the problem is to stop the discharge, not to increase it.
The population growth rate, by reason of logic, dictates water use rates will increase. Environmental experts believe that by 2020, 85% of all waste-water in the U.S. will be re-used and 45% of that will be in U.S. households or for human consumption. Why keep pumping this precious resource overboard to pollute our rivers when we can use it to improve our quality of life? We have the technology to do it now, and as the technology grows better it will save more taxpayer dollars, thus reducing rates.
Why do we have to wait until 2009 or later to begin building this type of system while our waters are still being used as a dump? If this were Downtown Baghdad it would be done in 6 days by people getting shot at. (Maybe we should get the Marines in here to handle it.) I do not have all the answers, nor do I pretend to. I do however see a big problem that makes me ask a lot of questions. There has got to be a better way. The big question is what is it, and who will stand up and fight for it. A copy of this letter will be sent to all local news papers, local T.V. stations, the Beaufort Mayor, Beaufort Commissioners, County Commissioners, State Representatives, the Governor or anyone else that can help. There is a lot of work to be done. I need helpful ideas and people. There is an area on my web site dedicated to this effort. It has more info, a petition with a comment section, and an Email address. You can also contact these officials and the media to let them know that now is the time for immediate action to fix a long overdue problem in the correct manner, and not just set up for what will be called a band-aid solution in 3 or 4 years.
My web address is www.theclammerheadgroup.com
click- Petition for Sewage Free Water
Thank you very much for your time and effort,
David A. Cessna Sr. (Clammerhead)
