THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 10, 1995 TAG: 9508100593
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
As water quality on the Roanoke River begins returning to normal this week, state Senate leader Marc Basnight says he wants to help Albemarle-area commercial fishermen recoup any financial losses they might have incurred from a recent fish kill on the waterway.
After meeting Tuesday in Raleigh with nine of the state's top environmental officials, Basnight said he will ask North Carolina Power Co. and the federal government to reimburse the region's fishermen and other businesses for losses from the fish kill.
A factor in the fish kill was dramatic drops in water flow from dams run by the utility and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
``I believe it will be a long, drawn-out affair because people will be pointing fingers everywhere else,'' Basnight said Tuesday. ``But I imagine the state will take an extremely strong stand in protecting its interests.
``And I am convinced that North Carolina Power will be cooperative.''
North Carolina Power and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operate three dams on the river at the direction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The utility is a subsidiary of Virginia Power Co.
A spokesman for North Carolina Power said the company would be agreeable to discussing changes in its operating parameters, but he would not say the company is willing to reimburse commercial fishermen for their losses.
``We will do whatever we can within our authority to keep this from happening again,'' spokesman Randy Shillingburg said Wednesday.
``We have not had an opportunity to meet with the state agencies to discuss the issue of reimbursement,'' Shillingburg said. ``However, a number of factors, most of which were beyond the control of North Carolina Power, contributed to the fish kill.'' He pointed to the recent extreme heat, as well as an unexpected weather pattern: Periods of rain, followed by dry spells, aren't unusual, but they are odd at this time of year, he said.
In the meantime, state environmental officials said Wednesday that they would work with the utility and the corps to alter operating procedures to prevent extreme fluctuations in water flow
Such efforts would come in discussions, which are continuing this week, about renewing operating permits, said a spokesman for the Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources. North Carolina Power's permits for the Roanoke Rapids dam and the Lake Gaston dam expire in 2001, utility officials said. The state also wants to work out action that could be taken immediately to prevent dramatic fluctations in flow.
``I can assure you North Carolina won't rest until that permit is changed to include keeping these levels at a steady rate,'' said department spokeswoman Debbie Crane. ``And, in the meantime, we're going to work with them to see that this doesn't happen again.''
This summer, abnormally heavy rains and high temperatures have led to low oxygen concentrations in waterways and fish kills all along the mid- and northeastern coast.
Man-made problems in many coastal waterways have aggravated natural conditions.
In June, July and early August, breaks in animal waste lagoons sent more than 31 gallons of untreated waste flowing into the New River and other coastal waterways. Dam-water flow reductions by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and North Carolina Power also contributed to dissolved oxygen problems on the Roanoke River.
Two weeks ago, the heat and a sudden drop in water flowing into the Roanoke apparently led to fish kills and the temporary shutdown of Weyerhaeuser Co.'s pulp and paper mill, the region's largest industry.
The Roanoke River kill, Crane said, is ``more horrible than any other fish kill we've ever dealt with.''
Thousands of fish along a 37-mile stretch of the river from Hamilton to Jamesville - including striped bass, white perch, largemouth bass, sunfish, carp, American eels and suckers - have been killed in recent days, according to biologists with the state Division of Marine Fisheries and the Wildlife Resources Commission.
Estimates by the two agencies set the number of striped bass killed on the river between 6,000 and 8,000. At an average of about 4 pounds per fish, that equals the entire fall season quota for the Albemarle Sound Management Area for commercial and sports anglers.
North Carolina Power's operating permit does address fluctuations in flow during the spring to protect striped bass when they spawn, but because this weather pattern is so unusual in the summer, there is no such provision for the summer in the permit.
``What happened is extremely tragic,'' Basnight said. ``I sincerely don't believe the fishermen should suffer because of this loss.''
The loss to the environment and to the economy exceeds the loss of thousands of fish, he said.
The drop in oxygen levels in the water also killed plankton, the food that the surviving fish feed on, Basnight said.
``We've measured the cost of the fish. But that's not all the loss,'' Basnight said. ``There's the loss to the tackle shop owners. There's the loss from the sale of ice. . . . It can be a very significant loss from that perspective.'' by CNB