also be keeping company with nutrients, 

 sediments and other pollutants, such as 

 pesticides, trace metals and hydrocarbons, 

 which are occasionally found in runoff. 



On Hewletts Creek, the fecal 

 coliform pollution is masked by thickly 

 grassed waters that are the picture of 

 estuarine health. But the row of no-shell- 

 fishing signs posted at the mouth tell a 



different story of a creek that has been 

 closed on and off since 1974. 



One unusual chapter of this story fea- 

 tures a pump station that has spilled sew- 

 age into the creek twice since 1989. One 

 spill, in July 1992, released 500,000 gal- 

 lons into the creek. The pollution closed 

 the entire creek and 6 miles of adjoining 

 Masonboro Sound, which is designated a 



shellfishing area and "outstanding resource 

 water" (ORW) in certain stretches. This 

 ORW status guarantees the sound special 

 protection that the creek doesn't have. To- 

 day, the sound is open again, but Hewletts 

 Creek is not. Seven months after the July 

 1992 incident, it was polluted again by 

 another sewage spill. 



Continued 



Green no-shellfishing signs flag troubled waters. 



as when they surround a marina; or by 

 the presence of a point source discharge 

 from a wastewater treatment plant; 

 43,500 acres. 



This includes a subset of waters: 

 Restricted 



Closed waters from which shellfish 

 can be relayed to clean areas, usually in 

 April and May, where they must remain a 

 minimum of two weeks before they can be 

 harvested; Acreage not available. 



WATERWISE: CURBING RUNOFF 



Now more than ever, we hear about 

 nonpoint sources of pollution degrading 

 our inland and coastal waters. But where 

 does this pollution originate, and how can 

 we protect our waters from it? 



Sea Grant coastal water quality 

 specialist Barbara Doll answers these 

 questions in the fall 1993 issue of 

 WaterWise. "Curbing Nonpoint Source 

 Pollution: North Carolina Waters at 



Risk" looks at these sources of pollu- 

 tion and the effect they can have on 

 coastal waters. Doll also reviews 

 North Carolina's plans to curb 

 nonpoint source pollution through a 

 new plan mandated by Congress. 



To order this free publication, 

 write N.C. Sea Grant, Box 8605, 

 N.C. State University, Raleigh, NC 

 27695-8605. Or call 9191515-2454. 



COASTWATCH S 



