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Volume XLIV.—No. 29.
The Governor
PASSING THE JAR Town Administrator W.B. Gardner passed a Mason jar of algae-filled water
from the Chowan River around at a regional meeting Monday night in Williamston in an effort to get
the attention of state officials from Gov. James B. Hunt, Jr., on down. In the photos from left he shows
the specimen to the governor, Sec. Howard N. Lee of the Department of Natural Resources & Com
Algae Chokes Beauty
Chowan River: Going, Going, Gone ?
By L.F. Amburn, Jr.
The “green tide” is choking the
Chowan River in equal proportion
to the 1972 algal bloom which
caused local officials to declare
that the area’s greatest natural
resource was dying.
This year’s catastrophe, which
developed two weeks ago, in
furiates fishermen and sportsmen
while it puzzles scientist. As late
as May 31 the river was said to be
in the best condition since 1972.
This was due to heavy rainfall in
the spring which flushed the river.
“We expected a normal floom,”
Dh Gus Witherspoon of N.C. State
University said here'.Tuesday of*
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DEAD FINGERLINGS
Wallace Peele shows
thousands of dead fingerlings
at Peele Fishery. “They just
can’t survive in this stuff,” he
told state officials.
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temoon. “But this just plain out
puzzles us.”
Dr. Witherspoon, a botany
professor at N.C. State University
who has headed a four-year in
dependent study of water quality
in the Chowan, was with Dr. Dave
Adams, assistant secretary, State
Department of Natural Resources
& Community Development, and
Page Benton of the Water Quality
Section, Division of En
vironmental Management, who
toured the area and met with
officials of Edenton Chamber of
Commerce.
As in 1972, the culprit is believed
Jp bft. CF Industries .at Tunis,
according to Bill Norvell,
chamber president. His logic is
baded on the fact that the river is
clean north of the Hertford County
plant and algae is present only
south of the site.
Dr. Adams promised to use
every tool at his dsiposal to
determine if there continues to be
seepage from holding ponds at the
fertilizer complex. When
questioned about dosing down the
plant, he said it “might be the
worst thing we could do” because
in the manufacturing process the
nitrogen-high water being held is
recycled.
Dr. Adams said he would not
soon forget the “graphic display”
he witnessed Tuesday but Murray
Nixon said it wasn’t nearly as bad
as the day before.
Dr. Witherspoon said CF In
dustries is not without blame for
the condition of the river but there
is no scientific evidence to support
claims that any polluted water is
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, July 20, 1978.
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The Secretary
now coming from the plant.
Benton added that at this time
the state has no scientific proof
that the industry is discharging
more than the permit allows.
W.B. Gardner, town ad
ministrator, said at this point if
the source is known it should be
controlled to a greater degree.
“We don’t want to be unfair but we
want you to get at the problem,”
he added.
“The people here are not con
vinced that CF Industries is not
dumping overboard,” he con
tinued. “We heard that they
weren’t six years ago and it was
proven.wrong. This ir. itself cost
the state a lot of credibility.”
Norvell said: “Regardless of
what your scientific data shows
rtfM
REAL EVIDENCE Murray Nixon points to the mint green
slime in a boat basin at his fishery on the Chowan River. Looking
on are state and local officials who toured the area Tuesday af
ternoon.
munity Development, and State Sen. J.J. (Monk) Harrington of Lewiston. Environmental
management representatives and a scientist from N.C. State University spent Tuesday afternoon in
the area talking to officials of Edenton Chamber of Commerce and viewing the “green tide” which has
turned the river into a cesspool.'
the bloom is very, very real to us.”
Dr. Witherspoon commented
that the “real way to solve the
problem is to stop putting anything
into the river.”
When Benton repeated that the
state has nothing to show CF In
dustries has done anything to
contribute to the current bloom,
W.P. (Spec) Jones said: “We
think they did and will continue to
think so until someone proves us
wrong.”
Dr. Adams said no one can
prove a negative.
However, he said there is a
possibility of some leakage and
willaa«npt toftnc if
it is true.
Eddie Dick, county manager,
asked if the daily withdrawal by
Progress Os ‘Green Tide’ Is Noted
(From Chowan River Project
Summary Report)
Instances of eutrophication of
surface waters in North Carolina
leading to a severe bloom like the
one in 1972 are relatively rare and
infrequent. The factors necessary
to produce nuisance blooms of
algae seldom coincide. Nutrient
levels have been near the level for
nuisance blooms since 1956. And in
1972, the extra nutrients
nitrogen and phosphorus were
added to the Chowan through
industrial and municipal waste
discharges and, to an
unknown degree, from
agricultural runoff.
The sluggish nature of the
Chowan, particularly in the lower
half, aids the conditions necessary
for algal growth. Flushing times
for the lower Chowan are typically
50 days or more in the summer
compared to 10 days or less in the
winter. The upper portion of the
river is not affected to the same
degree since the water flow is
much faster there and algae do not
have as much of a chance to
develop in nuisance quantities.
Seasonal algal blooms are a
The Senator
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SORRY SIGHT Dr. Dave
Adams, assistant secretary,
Department of Natural
Resources and Community
Development, views the sorry
sight with Dr. Gus Wither
spoon of NCSU, foreground.
the industry is contributing
factor to the flow. Dr. Witherspoon
said it did and “could have some
affect on the bloom.”
Later Dick asked: “Why are we
back to this point?” “That is a
good question. I don’t have the
answer to that one,” stated Dr.
Witherspoon.
Charles Creighton asked Dr.
Adams if it is possible that the
area residents will have to live
with the river like it is today. The
answer was in the affirmative,
which caused heads around the
Continued on Page 4
natural phenomenon in the
Chowan River. Area residents
expect blooms of short duration in
late spring and then again at the
end of the summer. Normally,
these blooms do not last long
enough or reach such proportions
as to restrict use of the river.
RETURN FROM TOUR Capt. A1 Howard docks his boat
after taking state environmental officials and a N.C. State
University scientist on a tour of the algae-filled Chowan River. In
the foreground are local officials who patiently await word df
what can be done to solve the problem.
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Single Copies 15 Cents.
River Flow
Effects Growth
A reliable mathematical model
has been developed by the U.S.
Geological Survey for the
estimation of flows in the Chowan
River.
River flow exerts a very strong
influence on the growth of algae,
which declines with rising flows
and intensifies with low flows.
Concentrations of nutrients and
algae vary greatly with location
and time.
During the summer, tem
perature, light, and flow are more
favorable to algal growth than at
any other time of the year.
Because of the intensity of growth
at this time, levels of nutrients
dissolved in the water are sharply
reduced.
Nitrogen concentration is the
limiting factor for algal growth in
the summer. Most nitrogen
assimilated by algae during this
period comes from recycling
processes such as regeneration of
dissolved inorganic nitrogen from
dead organic matter in the water
and sediments. Little can be done
to slow this process except to
reduce the total amount entering
Continued on Page 4
Regular Front
on Page 3
But in 1972, when the seasona
bloom arrived in May, it stave*;
until fall. The Chowan looked lik’
“pea soup” from bank to bank in
the lower half. In some spots th‘
algae were in such massive tuft?
it appeared sturdy enough to wais
Continued on Page t