September 2007 HRA Newsletter.Qxd
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Voice of the Haw The Haw River Assembly April 2015 P.O. Box 187 • Bynum, NC 27228 • (919) 542-5790 email: [email protected] • www.hawriver.org Spring Comes To the Haw! Turtles are sunning on rocks, and ospreys are fishing the river again. What a great welcome to spring and what a great time to enjoy the beautiful Haw. Thirty years ago it would have been hard to tell you of a place with public access to the river - but not anymore. Up in the headwaters you can visit the Haw River State Park off of Hwy 150 up near Brown Summit, and follow the boardwalk through a beautiful wetland forest to the river. In Alamance County, the Haw River Trail now includes Shallowford Natural P h Area, Great Bend Park in the historic Glencoe mill village, o t o and Red Slide Park in the Town of Haw River, once a b y F bustling textile center. Further downstream is the r e d Swepsonville River Park, and then the new Alamance T u t County Island Park in the creative village of Saxapahaw m a (with plenty of places for delicious refreshments). In n Chatham County you can hike along the 4 miles of the Lower Haw River State Natural Area from Bynum to the Hwy 64 Bridge. For on-water adventures, go paddling in your own canoe or kayak, or sign up for a trip from our Saturday May 2nd on the Haw in local guides (see page 7 for more). You can take an easy, but beautiful, flatwater trip on the old mill dams in Bynum Saxapahaw, 4 - 8 pm or Saxapahaw, or paddle the river's whitewater between Altamahaw and the final takeout above Jordan Lake, with Join us in mostly class I and II rapids. For more information and celebrating directions, go to our website (http://hawriver.org/about-the- HRA’s 33rd year, at our annu - river/recreation/) and then get out and enjoy one of the pret - al HAW RIVER FESTIVAL tiest rivers in the Piedmont! on the Haw River in Saxapahaw! For directions and more info, visit www.HawRiver.org , or www.RiverMillVillage.com . o s Hope to see you there! s o i h c c C stream monitoring e n i g g a canoe rides for kids l E i i y info on watershed issues b o t h h o T-shirts new & vintage h P g live music g h h Lynn Featherstone takes a local arts & crafts young’un for his first canoe ride, j food trucks j at the 2014 Haw River Festival. j farmers’ market j 1 HRA Board of Directors Notes from the Haw P Dr. Ruth Lucier , President, Bynum h o t (Bennett College, Greensboro) o Is there a time more ephemeral than b y Anne Cassebaum , Vice-President, Elon when winter melts into spring? The cold F r e Chris Carter, Co-Treasurer, Saxapahaw d winter already seems just a memory, but T Jo Sanders , Co-Treasurer, Chatham u the ice and snow transformed our t m Tom Patterson, Secretary, Chapel Hill a streams and river to some beautiful n Dr. John Bang , Cary (NC Central University) sights. One of my favorites was of Dry Sam Berryhill , Graham Creek where a small waterfall flowed Melvin DuBose, Burlington through icy banks. Lynn Featherstone, Chatham The Haw River Sharon Garbutt, Chatham Assembly was chosen Jim Hood, Greensboro (Elon University) to be one of the Dr. Janet MacFall, Saxapahaw (Elon University) organizations who Dr. Cristina Moreira, Oak Ridge will participate in the (Bennett College) Z. Smith Reynolds Justin Robinson , Durham Foundation Racial Deepa Sanyal , Fearrington Equity Initiative 2015 Daniel Sigmon, Graham (Alamance Community Labs. This consists of College) 3 workshops that will John Wagner , Chatham help us build racial diversity and equity Mac Jordan, Emeritus Member, Saxapahaw in our organization Omega Wilson, Environmental Justice Advisor and work. Z Smith Reynolds covers the training costs for three participants to take HRA Staff part in these. Melvin DuBose, Jo Sanders, and I will be going (with RIVERKEEPER ® Elaine Chiosso , HAW and Chris Carter joining for one). The team from HRA will be sharing Executive Director what we learn with our Board and the membership and expect Tracy DeVoe , Watershed Education Coordinator some great discussions to come out of this concerning our own P Kathy Buck , Office Manager organization. h o t Cynthia Crossen , Newsletter Editor o s Janet MacFall gave a ter - o f rific presentation on D r y To join The Haw River Assembly January 31 about her C r e or renew your membership, send a check to: research on historic e k causes of sediment in b y HRA, P.O. Box 187, Bynum, NC 27228 . the Haw River at E l a i Individual: $25 Family: $40 Company Shops Market n e C Sustaining: $50 ; Heron Circle: $100 & above in Burlington. Very inter - h i o esting - and if you s s Low Income: $10 o haven't read it yet, her research paper is online: The Haw River Assembly is a nonprofit . Thanks to Anne grassroots organization founded in 1982. http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0110170 Cassebaum for organizing! Our mission is to protect and restore the Haw River, its tributaries, and Jordan Lake; Hope to see you at our Haw River Festival on May 2, from 4-8 pm and to build a community that shares this in Saxapahaw! Happy Spring! vision. (919) 542-5790 www.hawriver.org RIVERKEEPER From the river, Elaine Chiosso, HAW ® How can you be sure it’s spring? When windflowers and fiddleheads unfurl by the creek. Photo by Cynthia Crossen. 2 HAW RIVERKEEPER® Issues in the Watershed RIVERKEEPER from Elaine Chiosso , HAW ® State Public Hearings on Coal Ash Dumps in Chatham and over the re-zoning of the 7,200 plus acres into the massive Lee will be held by the NC Dept. of Environment and Natural Chatham Park development will go to court later this April. Read Resources (DENR) in April. The public can comment on per - more at pittsboromatters.org . mits that Duke Energy needs in order to bury coal ash in Jordan Lake SolarBees: Eight of the 36 SolarBees deployed at Chatham and Lee counties. The hearings will be from 6 to 9 Jordan Lake “went rogue” this winter, dragging off their anchor pm with sign-up for speakers beginning at 5 pm on April 13 points - with one floating down the Haw River towards the dam at the Dennis A. Wicker Civic (as HRA had warned could Center in Sanford , and April 16 happen). The SolarBees, at the Chatham County Historic unrealistically meant to Courthouse in Pittsboro . Written reduce algae growth, are a comments can be submitted until threat to boaters, a waste May 16 to DENR. Duke Energy of taxpayer money, and are and their contractor, Charah, plan avoiding the only real way to move 12 million of tons of coal to clean up Jordan Lake - ash from across the state to old by reducing the pollution clay mines in Chatham and Lee flowing in. In other news, counties. This could impact HRA opposed Cary, Apex streams in the Haw River water - and Morrisville’s request shed, very close to where 5 coal for more of their water ash ponds (at the closed Moncure allocation from Jordan coal plant) are leaking into the Lake to be flushed (via Cape Fear River. We have serious wastewater) into the Neuse concerns about surface and River. This practice is not groundwater contamination. good for downstream Cape These will be coal ash landfills, Fear water users, and it and should be regulated as such, sets the stage for more not as “mine reclamation.” For growth that may prove to more information visit be unsustainable as our www.hawriver.org . Coal ash protestors speak out at the Chatham County courthouse. region grows and climate Photo by Martha Girolami HRA Fracking Lawsuit: The changes. Southern Environmental Law Center filed a lawsuit January 5 on behalf of HRA and a Lee County property owner, saying that the NC legislature overstepped its constitutional powers in setting up the Mining and Energy Commission (MEC), which is charged with developing regulations for fracking. A three judge panel ruled in March on the governor’s challenge that the legislature had overstepped its authority in setting up 3 P h other commissions. Final fracking rules have been passed by o t o the MEC, and the moratorium that prevented the state from b y issuing fracking permits ended in March. E l a i n Chatham Park: Pittsboro Matters has asked the Town of e C Pittsboro to issue a “Stop Work” order to immediately halt h i o s highway construction work by Chatham Park, north of the US s o 64 bypass, including a proposed overpass. They assert that this violates the terms of the Chatham Park PDD Master Plan, A SolarBee “goes rogue” on the Jordan Lake arm. which requires detailed site plans, extensive review, and Town Board approval before such construction can begin. Pittsboro Good news from Burlington: Remember that agreement we Matters is prepared to ask the Court to intervene, and to issue negotiated with Burlington to fix their sewer pipes after the big an injunction to stop the work until such time as the legal 3.5 million sewage spill over a year ago? Burlington is ahead of issues are resolved. HRA has urged much greater conservation schedule on fixing the problem! We will continue to work with - of this area of Chatham Park near the Haw River where the the city and to inform communities and recreational users of road building is occurring.