Action needed as Raleigh's water supply degrades
Today's News & Observer has an important story by Jim Wise about how the quality of Falls Lake -- Raleigh's main water supply -- is suffering while officials with the power to do something are failing to act:July 1 was the deadline for the N.C. Division of Water Quality to have a cleanup plan for Falls Lake. They're still working on it.The Neuse River Foundation is sponsoring an online letter-writing campaign encouraging lawmakers to take action to clean up the lake ASAP. And freshman state Sen. Josh Stein (D-Wake) has introduced legislation encouraging local governments to step up efforts to protect the lake.
In the meantime, there's a simple step that people can take to help curb the pollution in Falls Lake as well as other water bodies: Use caution when treating lawns and gardens with fertilizers, which lead to the algae overgrowth that's damaging the lake. For more information on proper application of fertilizers, click here for a guide from N.C. State University.
(Photo of Falls Lake in winter by Sue Sturgis)
Labels: drinking water safety, Falls Lake, josh stein, lawn care, N.C. Division of Water Quality, water pollution
posted by Sue Sturgis @ 2:17 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
The NC Senate today (Wed., 7/29) amended and then passed a bill to place a moratorium on rule making by the Environmental Management Commission.
The amendment, adopted by a large vote, limited the effect of the bill to any “permanent rule regarding any requirement to test water quality by animal feeding operations”. This will prevent the bill from stopping rule making activities regarding Falls Lake, but it will stop a proposed EMC rule regarding hog farms in Eastern North Carolina.
Some of the senators who opposed the limiting amendment expressed a belief that the EMC should be stopped from adopting any rules because EMC rules are anti-business.
The bill would prevent any rule from being adopted before July 1, 2011. Under existing state law rules adopted after that date must then go to the Rules Review Commission. Following RRC approval the rule will not go into effect until the end of the next session of the General Assembly, so the legislators may review and block the rules. This bill would stop affected rules from going into effect before the summer of 2012.
Thankfully, Falls Lake is not affected. But for the sake of the many people who have to put up with the smell of hog farms, let’s hope that this very bad bill is killed by the House.
John Shaw
http://conservenc.blogspot.com/
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