Source: WILMINGTON STAR-NEWS, 2/9/19

A federal official wrote in a letter this week that mitigation efforts the N.C. State Ports Authority has proposed to further widen its turning basin at the Port of Wilmington are “inadequate” and suggested permits should not be issued until they are improved. “The proposed mitigation for the loss of nursery habitat designated as a (primary nursing area) and (habitat area of particular concern) is inadequate and needs formal evaluation to assess benefits relative to impacts,” Virginia M. Fay, a National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) assistant regional administrator, wrote in a letter to federal agencies, the N.C. Department of of Environmental Quality and the Army Corps of Engineers.

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