Tell Raleigh to clean up its Neuse-threatening pollution

As the News & Observer reported this week, Raleigh officials are trying to weasel out of requirements that they clean up nitrogen contamination leaching from the city's sewage sludge fields into the Neuse. It's critical that citizens who care about the health of the river -- which has already been named one of the nation's most endangered -- weigh in against this environmentally irresponsible plan.

Due to decades of careless spraying of sludge on fields near the sewage treatment plant, the city contaminated over 1,000 acres of land as well as groundwater with nitrates -- the single biggest groundwater pollution incident ever recorded in North Carolina. The state finally required Raleigh to stop applying sludge to the land in 2002 after several private drinking wells nearby were found to be contaminated with nitrates, which can cause potentially fatal blue baby syndrome as well as damage to the spleen.

The wells have since been abandoned, and the city now provides drinking water to their owners. But if Raleigh does nothing to address the pollution it caused, more than 120,000 pounds of nitrogen are expected to leach from the site into the Neuse each year over the next 30 to 40 years. That's more nitrogen than is currently dumped in the river by Apex, Benson, Butner, Cary, Clayton, Johnson County, Wake Forest and Zebulon combined. The contamination of rivers with excess nitrogen -- a process known as "eutrophication" -- promotes excess algae growth, suffocates river life, and can even create health problems for downstream communities that rely on the river for drinking water by interfering with treatment processes.

The city is currently seeking a variance for its plant permit that would allow it to avoid cleaning up the pollution and simply let the nitrogen pollution seep into the river. Upper Neuse Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks with the Neuse River Foundation is urging concerned citizens to weigh in with the state's Environmental Management Commission and Raleigh city officials and call for the variance request to be denied. The state is accepting comments through Friday, Oct. 5. (PLEASE NOTE: This deadline has been extended to Monday, Nov. 5.) To send a message, click here.