THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 27, 1996 TAG: 9607270209
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY JENNIFER MCMENAMIN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: 83 lines
The pull of a surf fishing line snagged Dr. Wallace Harvey and brought him to the Outer Banks 37 years ago.
But the waters that lured him here have changed.
Harvey no longer catches the flounder he used to. Flat, silvery shad no longer splash around Stumpy Point. Developments and bridges have sprung up where wetlands and clear waters once were treasured for their bounty.
Pollution from upstream industries, agricultural fertilizers and urban run-off has leaked into the streams, sounds and estuaries.
And there seems to be no money to fund programs that could prevent a disaster like the Neuse River fish kill, which caught the attention - and pocketbooks - of state lawmakers.
``I'm fearful that agribusiness will kill our sounds and rivers unless some definite action is taken by the state to treat agriculture the same as industry and municipalities,'' Harvey said Thursday.
A workshop conducted Friday by the North Carolina Division of Water Quality did not provide the action Harvey wants - and what he contends the barrier islands need.
``Now see? They didn't say anything. What a waste of my time,'' Harvey said at the Outer Banks History Center, where the workshop was held. ``They continually spin the wheel.
``They said agencies hadn't coordinated efforts with other agencies. It's the same story we hear throughout government. Whose turf is whose?''
More than 40 employees from several state and federal agencies joined about 20 area residents from business, industry, government and agriculture for a three-hour program designed to identify water quality problems and solutions in the Pasquotank River Basin.
As one of 17 basinwide proposals being drawn through November 1 the Pasquoank River Plan will address the Albemarle and Currituck sounds, northern Pamlico Sound and Pasquotank, Perquimans, Alligator and North rivers.
``We are conducting these workshops before we even develop a plan because we want to find out what you - the people who live here - think about it, so when we take that back to Raleigh we can have that perspective,'' said Suzanne Hoover, a basinwide planner with the Division of Water Quality.
When it came time for the small-group discussions, fascilitators used easels and thick markers to compile lists of water quality issues, needs that must be met and possible solutions.
Many of the suggestions centered around educational programs and public awareness.
``We need to realize that every one of us contributes to pollution,'' said Mac Gibbs Jr., the associate agriculture agent in Hyde County with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service. ``What we have got to look at is how we, as individuals, have got to balance the environment and the economy together. We can't go one way and protect the environment and forget about the people who live here.
``Agencies sometimes go in different directions. We need to sit down and say, `What are we really doing?' We're all human. And sometimes we forget we're just an animal and just as suceptible to extinction as the alligators. Water quality is a big part of that.''
Other solutions included enforcement of existing rules, additional staff, promotion of ecotourism, improved septic treatment programs, observation programs to monitor the waters and acquatic habitats and alternate uses of sewage and animal waste. One resident even suggested growing bamboo in an animal-waste-based soil and building beach furniture with the bamboo.
But when the question of funding surfaced, everyone hesitated, sputtered and explained that people need to care about an issue before money will be channeled toward it.
``Money is generated by political will,'' said Jason Doll, an environmental modeler with the Division of Water Quality. He added that disasters, such as the one at the Neuse River, immediately garner ``tons of money'' when they become a hot issue.
``We talk about loss of fish and loss of shellfish,'' said Paul Schinke, a water quality modeler with the Division of Water Quality. ``Now we need to get on with what to do about it.''
Harvey said that song is one he himself has sung for years. Harvey first began his quest in 1969 as the presidential appointee to the Federal Water Quality Administration, which was part of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Several file cabinets of information later, the 73-year-old's committment to the waters is unwaivering.
``I reckon I've always been interested in water. It's always been a fascination of mine,'' the retired physician and Coast Guard officer said from his soundfront home on Roanoke Island. ``Why do I like it? I don't know. Why do people like to look at clouds and find shapes in them?'' by CNB