the ground each day, possibly affecting 

 local water quality and supplies. 



Environmental Risks 



Coal transport is so new to North 

 Carolina that nobody knows exactly 

 what the environmental impacts might 

 be. But the biggest concern is over so- 

 called heavy metals, elements found in 

 coal and its dust that can be toxic if 

 they are sufficiently concentrated. 



"There are thirty heavy metals in 

 coal runoff," says Susan Schmidt, a 

 researcher who has studied the hazards 

 of coal for the Office of Coastal 

 Management. "Maybe twelve of those 

 can accumulate in fish and in the food 

 chain." 



Coal contains such elements as 

 aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, 

 chromium, copper, mercury, nickel, 

 lead, selenium, sulfate, iron, and 

 manganese. 



"Aquatic species can magnify 

 metals," Schmidt says. "The best ex- 

 ample is oysters, since they magnify 

 metals in the water column by 

 something like four thousand times." 



Schmidt says there's no reason to 

 believe that the metals from coal pose 

 an immediate threat to fisheries in the 



Neuse and Pamlico estuaries, even 

 though heavy metals have been 

 blamed for cancer and gene abnor- 

 malities in humans. 



"Right now, the waters are 

 relatively pristine," Schmidt says. 

 "It's just going to take careful 

 monitoring to keep them that way." 



Patrick Whaley, a scientist at the 

 Duke University Marine Laboratory 

 in Beaufort, has analyzed coal samples 

 from piles at the State Port terminal 

 and says that, while there are heavy 

 metals present in the samples, they are 

 not present in great concentrations. 

 "The levels are not high enough to be 

 alarming," Whaley says. The coal 

 samples were sub-bituminous, a type 

 of coal less dense than the harder 

 metallurgical coals. 



But Whaley adds that even though 

 the amounts of heavy metals seem low, 

 there is still good reason to be cautious 

 with coal, its dust and runoff. 



Managing coal-pile runoff and dust 

 from the Morehead City and Radio 

 Island sites is especially crucial, since 

 tides flush adjacent waters into the 

 Newport River estuary, one of the 

 most productive in the state. 



But the NRCD report indicates that 



there is perhaps more risk to the state's 

 fisheries from ship and barge traffic 

 and dredging operations than from the 

 coal itself — problems that would likely 

 accompany the development of any ex- 

 port trade. 



The report concludes that "the most 

 important unresolved problem may be 

 the cumulative effects of dredging new 

 channels and deepening existing 

 ones. . ." 



What is the price tag for resolving 

 such issues? The answer is elusive, but 

 experts agree that the problems will re- 

 quire more research, careful monitor- 

 ing and thorough planning. And those 

 efforts have costs. 



Roger Schecter, of the state's Office 

 of Regulatory Regulations, helped 

 prepare the NRCD report, and he has 

 reached at least one conclusion about 

 the state's role: 



"Most of the environmental issues 

 could be addressed through regulatory 

 coverage," Schecter says. "But one of 

 the things that concerns us is that the 

 state doesn't have a great deal of ex- 

 perience with this kind of industry. 

 We're going to have to start using our 

 authority, and be tougher in our 

 enforcement." 



A channel dredge builds a new dredge-spoil island in a North Carolina inlet 



