Aurora, N.C.-The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is currently taking comments on a plan by PCS Phosphates to expand its current Aurora mine by 3,412 acres. Comments are due by Jan. 27. The Corps issued a draft environmental impact on the expansion last October. Pamlico County commissioners, citing PCS’s stance as a provider of good jobs to the local community, approved the PCS plan Jan. 2, but the ultimate decision rests with the Corps. PCS says the expansion is necessary as its current mine will be exhausted in 2011. Of the expansion, some 2,408 acres consist of wetlands or land adjacent to waterways, though PCS notes that only 49 acres are actually marsh or open water wetlands. PCS has widely publicized its environmental mitigation practices in the local media to qualm any fears about the expansion. The Environmental Protection Agency requires two acres of land be converted to wetlands for every acre taken. Environmentalists, led by the local Pamlico-Tar River Foundation, fear that the mitigation will take place in other areas of the state and not necessarily at the local level. It says the existing wetlands store floodwaters and that mitigation can be risky, with a high failure rate. It is also concerned that there will be increased levels of toxic metals – including cadmium, arsenic, and chromium – found in the soils used to fill the mine pit, and that these may leach into groundwater. Written comments may be sent to the Corps’ Wilmington District, Regulatory Division, Attention: File Number 2001-10096, P.O. Box 1890, Wilmington, N.C. 28402-1890.
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