Neuse River Part One

"The river's in a dying situation andwe've go to care about it," Dr. Stan Riggs said in 1990.

Today, theNeuse maybe hurting even more.

Fish kills. We've seen a dramatic increase in recent years. We'veseen amysterious organismt hat poisions fish and eats flesh. Pfiesteria hadnot yet been discovered in 1990.

Also, hog farms have sprung up alongthe river at an explosive rate. Scientists say much of the animal wastefrom these farms eventually gets into the river from runoff and throughtheair.

Nitrogen from farms and sewage treatment plants. It robs the river ofoxygen. We pointed out the polluters in 1990. We're happy toreport that many of them, including Hillsborough, FlyntFabrics, Weyerhaeuserand Cherry Point, made major improvements. But others have taken theirplace. Industries and cities like Kinston with troubles treating waste.And there are stillplenty of mobile homeparks and small subdivisionsfouling the river because of treatment systems that don't work. Dozensofschools along the Neuse were in the same boat in 1990. Most of theirproblems have been fixed.

Clear cutting continues to be the problem itwasseven years ago. Too many loggers are stripping our forests bareallowing soilto wash off and poison the river.

And runoff from construction sites.This continues to be a big problem. Following our documentary,state regulators started cracking down. We've seen a sharp increasein enforcement of regulations and fines.

And we've seen new laws tonab environmental criminals. And a Rapid Reponse Team has been establishedto respond to fish kills on the Neuse.

Still, there are disappointments.