THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, June 26, 1995 TAG: 9506260030
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHLANDS LENGTH: Short : 33 lines
The 25 million gallons of hog waste that spilled in Onslow County has left much of the headwaters of the New River dead, a wildlife biologist said.
Wildlife biologists collected about 1,500 dead fish through Saturday from a 500-yard sample area in the headwaters of the New River, said Albert Little, a fisheries biologist with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. The dead fish included all native species from eels to largemouth bass.
Thick vegetation and shallow water made it impossible for biologists' boats to get to several miles of the river's headwaters where it is likely that no fish survived, Little said.
``I think everything is dead in there,'' Little said. ``When you start getting eels and catfish, there's not much left.''
Both bottom-feeding fish are the most tolerant to low oxygen levels, which can cause serious distress or death in fish.
The wastewater poured out of a hog waste lagoon at Oceanview Farms in Onslow County on Wednesday and into two streams feeding the New River.
Little said the New River headwaters would need to be restocked. The state can require parties found responsible for damage to replace fish and other wildlife. by CNB