New podcast tackles Neuse, Tar-Pamlico issues

WASHINGTON, N.C. — A new podcast produced by a regional conservation organization will focus on efforts to protect the area’s waterways.

“Sound Rivers: Riverkeeping Tales from the Neuse & Tar-Pamlico” is available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music, as well as on the Sound Rivers website: www.soundrivers.org. A nonprofit based in Washington, Sound Rivers operates riverkeeper programs and other initiatives in the Neuse and Tar river basins.

The podcast’s first episode highlights Blounts Creek, a tributary of the Pamlico River, and the 13-year battle to prevent a mining company from dumping up to 12 million gallons of wastewater per day into the brackish creek, potentially destroying an entire ecosystem.

“We chose the Blounts Creek story because it really exemplifies how our state agencies work, how North Carolina’s court system works, how a threat to this pristine creek can spark a grassroots movement to save it, and how, ultimately, government can get the decisions it makes wrong,” said Sound Rivers Executive Director Heather Deck.

Deck is featured in the episode “The Story of Blounts Creek,” along with Blounts Creek resident Bob Daw, one of the founders of the Save Blounts Creek movement.

“It was important to us to have the voices of Blounts Creek residents heard here, in our podcast, because they certainly didn’t have their voices heard in the public hearings and many court hearings over the past decade, as we were fighting to protect the creek from both the state and Martin Marietta Materials,” Deck said.

Sound Rivers will be releasing new podcasts on a monthly basis, tackling a wide array of issues — from pollution investigations and stormwater infrastructure to the impacts of climate change and legislation that removes protections for waterways in the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico watersheds.

“Basically, if it impacts your rivers, we’ll be talking about it,” Deck said.

Founded in 1980-81, Sound Rivers is one of the oldest grassroots conservation organizations in North Carolina. Sound Rivers monitors and protects two watersheds, covering nearly a quarter of the state.

With riverkeepers on the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico rivers, Sound Rivers’ mission is to preserve the waterways’ health and the health of the people who rely on them through science-based advocacy and environmental justice. For more information, visit soundrivers.org.