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CAPE FEAR MEMORIAL BRIDGE CLOSURE: UPDATES, RESOURCES, AND CONTEXT

Grant from pork producer helps to restore Bradley Creek, other sites around the region

More money is coming down the pike for the North Carolina Coastal Federation.

WHQR’s Rachel Lewis Hilburn reports that the environmental group will use a $100,000 grant to reduce stormwater runoff and restore water quality in the Cape Fear River Basin.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation’s goal:  to restore shell fishing and other recreational uses of Bradley Creek near Wrightsville Beach.  The money to do that is part of an annual two-million dollar payout from Smithfield Foods.  The pork producer reached a settlement with the State Attorney General’s office back in 2000 – in which Smithfield agreed to pay $50 million over 25 years to environmental groups. 

The funds are also used to develop new technologies for the processing and treatment of hog waste. 

This year’s two-million dollar payment is split among 14 environmental groups. 

In addition to the Coastal Federation’s hundred-thousand dollar grant, the Audubon Society of North Carolina will get its own $100,000 to acquire and permanently protect 1400 acres of wetlands on the Lumber River Basin.

Rachel hosts and produces CoastLine, an award-winning hourlong conversation featuring artists, humanitarians, scholars, and innovators in North Carolina. The show airs Wednesdays at noon and Sundays at 4 pm on 91.3 FM WHQR Public Media. It's also available as a podcast; just search CoastLine WHQR. You can reach her at rachellh@whqr.org.