BY HEATHER DECK, PAMLICO-TAR RIVERKEEPER
Following the election, this is a time to reflect on the direction in which elected officials are taking our communities; and whether we want to follow the same path or a new one. This is accountability season for legislators at local, state, and federal levels.
Unfortunately, it is sometimes hard to discern paths and to see destinations, because environmental laws and rules can be complex. Understanding changes to laws and the real-world effects that those changes will have on clean water can be particularly difficult. In recent years, our state’s elected leaders have made egregious changes to North Carolina’s environmental laws and have reduced the regulatory authority and budgets of state environmental agencies.
What has been most telling for me on the Pamlico-Tar River and my fellow Riverkeepers on the Neuse is the significantly slower response time by state regulators when a complaint is filed. We routinely investigate reported problems and document possible environmental violations. These violations are then reported to the appropriate enforcement agency. Before significant budget and staff reductions, staff typically responded within 48 hours. It was rare that a reported violation was not followed up within a week’s time. Most recently, I reported a possible buffer violation in Beaufort County. When I followed up with the agency after 6 weeks, the staff had yet to visit the site. I sympathize with state agency personnel who are currently charged with a job they do not have the resources and manpower to fulfill. Coupled with the “be soft on polluters” attitude emanating from the higher levels of the previous administration, there is very real evidence that enforcement of our state’s environmental laws has been severely lacking. We see this evidence across the state environmental divisions. In 2012, staff from the Division of Land Resources, who are charged with preventing sediment pollution, wrote to lawmakers and stated that budget and staff cuts had created “a tremendous strain on the program’s ability to carry out its responsibilities.” From 2010 to 2014, 25 positions were eliminated and the remaining staff conducted 10,000 fewer inspections; a reduction of more than 40 percent. For four years, the division has requested permit fee increases in order to obtain additional revenue and hire more staff. Those requests have been ignored.
Accountability is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as “the quality or state of being accountable; an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions.” We do not want to have a governmental climate that sides with polluters over people, gutting environmental protections and putting at risk what makes North Carolina special. From the mountains to the sea, North Carolina is a great place to live, work and raise a family. The places of North Carolina are worth protecting; and the people of North Carolina deserve better now and in the future.