DATE: Friday, June 20, 1997                 TAG: 9706200643

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: RALEIGH                           LENGTH:   54 lines

FISH KILLS, SEWAGE PLAGUE EASTERN WATERS ALSO, FISH WITH MYSTERIOUS SORES TURN UP IN NEUSE

More than 300 fish died in two fish kills Thursday, and about 1,000 gallons of raw sewage escaped from a Kinston sewer line, state officials said.

And the Neuse River keeper reported finding fish with sores on them in a creek that eventually feeds into the Neuse River in Pamlico County.

The sewage flooded out of a pipe north of N.C. 11 that crosses Atkins Branch, a creek that feeds a swamp along the Neuse River.

``This will not be tolerated,'' said Ernie Seneca, a spokesman for the state Division of Water Quality. ``Recent circumstances indicate there are some serious problems in Kinston. We are reviewing the situation to determine what enforcement action to proceed with.''

The State Bureau of Investigation is investigating four unreported sewage spills over the past year in Kinston, Seneca said.

The 12-inch pipe was plugged after spilling for 15 minutes, and Seneca said he was unaware of any health warnings issued for the area.

A field crew for the state Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources found about 100 dead fish in Nahunga Creek north of Kenansville in Duplin County.

The creek level was down by about a foot in the area, and tests showed an abnormally low amount of oxygen in the water.

A beaver dam upstream of the site is thought to be the culprit, Seneca said.

About 200 dead fish also were found Thursday morning in an unnamed tributary of Falling Creek near Kinston.

The fish had flared gills and open mouths, a sign they died due to lack of oxygen. Seneca said waste from nesting geese in the area may have washed into the water, triggering the oxygen depletion.

The enforcement actions against Kinston for the sewage spill could include fines, Seneca said.

``You can't control where geese are going to be or where beavers are going to build a dam,'' he said. ``But you sure as heck can control how a city runs its sewer system.''

Kinston city officials were not available to comment late Thursday on the spill.

In the Neuse, river keeper Rick Dove said about 90 percent of a sample of menhaden taken from Vandemeer Creek had sores. However, he said tests had not been completed to show whether the sores were caused by pfiesteria, a one-celled, fish-killing organism.

The creek feeds into the Bay River, which feeds into the Neuse near its mouth.

Two things are unusual about the sores, Dove said. Fish with sores have never been found in the Neuse this early in the summer, he said. And the Bay River and its tributaries tend to have some of the cleanest water that feeds into the Neuse, he said.

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