Economic Uncertainty over Lack of Dredging in North Carolina

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Boaters won't be the only ones affected if North Carolina's shallow inlets can't be used.

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — Boaters won't be the only ones affected if North Carolina's shallow inlets can't be used. Fishermen will go elsewhere if the inlets close and many businesses rely on the fishing trade, said Bruce Gombar, director of the Onslow County Economic Development Council.


"I think the economic impact of the loss of dredging is going to have huge repercussions, not just for the coastal communities but throughout the state," Gombar said.


But economic analysts have yet to put a dollar amount on just what that impact would be. And it could be some time before they come up with a firm figure.


"There is technically no study at this point," said Jim Herstine, assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, who is seeking funding sources for a two-year examination of the issue.


Community leaders have asked former UNCW Chancellor James Leutze to pull together different surveys instigated by various chambers of commerce and organizations along the coast.


These groups have now come together in a regional effort to address lack of federal funding for the inlets. Yet the information gathered so far may be sketchy. For instance, the Greater Topsail Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Board asked its members to complete a survey of how they would be affected by the loss of dredging, but few returned the forms, said chamber president Allan Libby.


"It's personal information," Libby said. "I suspect the people just didn't feel comfortable sharing it with us." So few responded to the survey that Libby doubts it would be seen as statistically reliable.


"We need to do something that will stand up to scientific rigor," Herstine said.


That, however, will cost money -- about $260,000 Herstine estimated. Possible funding sources include local governments, nonprofit foundations or the boat manufacturing industry, Herstine said.


The subject of an economic impact study is likely to come up at a meeting this week, hosted by the Onslow Bay Saltwater Fishing Club. The group initially scheduled the meeting, set for 7 p.m. Thursday at the Rotary Civic Center in Swansboro, to address lack of funding for Bogue Inlet, but the scope of the meeting has expanded to include all shallow draft inlets in southeastern North Carolina traditionally maintained by the Corps of Engineers, said club President Stan Jarusinski.


"We're expecting about a thousand people," Jarusinski said. Quite a few state lawmakers and local elected officials have said they will attend, Jarusinski said. Several congressional representatives plan to send proxies because of a scheduling conflict with another meeting in Washington on the same subject, he said.


The meeting will look at both long-term and short-term grassroots needed to ensure the inlets stay open, Jarusinski said. Libby said he sees the economic impact study as a long-term goal. "What it basically boils down to right now is legislation or regulation," Libby said.


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