Brunswick County staff told advocates they would apply for a Federal grant for the Albright/Brown Road neighborhood. And on Monday, the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners voted to approve a resolution to apply for an NCDEQ grant to bring water to the Mulberry Road neighborhood. That $3 million Community Development Block Grant — matched by another $2 million from the county — would allow the county to install water mains along the road, allowing residents to hook up to county water systems.
These grants would extend county water services to dozens of homes currently reliant on well water — water that is often unsafe to drink, rusty, or full of contaminants. It comes on the heels of years of advocacy by the Brunswick County NAACP.
Audrey Schreiber is the U.S. Campaigns Officer for Earth Rights, which has been working with the county NAACP to advocate for clean drinking water. She said these two grants are just the beginning of what’s needed.
“I'm enthusiastic about their interest, and want to collaborate on this, because this is an issue that's not just affecting the four neighborhoods that we've told them about so far," she said.
Schreiber also said the county should not charge these residents a hook-up fee for the county water once the line is extended. The fee has risen substantially in the past five years, from $650 for a ¾-inch pipe in 2019 to $ 2,900 for the same pipe today.
