THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 3, 1995 TAG: 9511030530
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
DATELINE: NEW BERN LENGTH: Short : 33 lines
The Senate Select Committee on River Water Quality and Fish Kills has unanimously approved recommendations that the governor immediately transfer $1.25 million to address problems in the Neuse River Basin.
The funds would be used to increase water-quality monitoring, help identify where nonpoint source pollution problems exist and what further steps will be most effective in combating the current pollution problems.
Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight said, ``This problem did not happen in one day and we will not fix it in one day. It has been a cumulative effect over the past 20 or 30 years. We have changed the composition of the water and the result has been decreased water quality and among other things, massive fish kills. This committee is taking steps today to fix the problem and clean up the Neuse.''
Basnight and Sen. Beverly Perdue, the select committee chair, stressed that everyone along the Neuse River Basin must work together as partners to clean up the Neuse.
The committee plans to organize a meeting by Jan. 31, which will include representatives of the business community, citizen groups, agriculture, municipalities, and wastewater dischargers. The attendees will seek to develop a master plan outlining how each user group can reduce nutrients in the river. by CNB