A box of letters from concerned residents of Beaufort County delivered to Governor Pat McCrory’s office have been redelivered to the governor’s liaison with the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

“I went over and actually took the box of 269 letters to emphasize how important this is and that we do need a quick response,” said Jarrod Lowery, outreach coordinator with the Governor’s Office.

The 269 letters express concern over state permits issued, or in the process of being issued, to Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. for the purpose of building a 649-acre limestone quarry in southern Beaufort County. One of those permits would allow the discharge of 12 million gallons of freshwater per day into the headwaters of the brackish Blounts Creek. Another would draw as much water from the Castle Hayne aquifer. If the permits are put into practice, area residents and farmers who rely on well water, as well as species currently living in what is a state-designated primary nursery area for saltwater species, could be greatly impacted, according to critics.

One issue is that the discharge of water would change the pH of the creek’s waters, which is against state law, according to a legal challenge to the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit filed two weeks ago by environmental watchdog organizations Pamlico-Tar River Foundation, North Carolina Coastal Federation and the Southern Environmental Law Center.

Blounts Creek residents Bob Boulden, Jimmy Daniels and Stan Sheets delivered letters stating residents’ concerns to the governor in early September. Since, the men received a phone from Lowery with an update that the letters, and the issue, are being reviewed by the DENR liaison.

“We have people looking into it and making sure everything was done right,” Lowery said. “From my conversation with the liaison, they want to make the correct decision. If there is something wrong — especially if there is a possibility of a state law being broken — there would have to be changes made to the permit.”

But the process is taking longer than Boulden would like.

“I think they’re taking longer than we all would like and if we want to give them the benefit doubt, they are doing a thorough investigation,” Boulden said. “This Thursday will be a month (since the letters were delivered), if we don’t have something by the end of this week, they’re dodging the issue.”

Lowery said he was told the complexity of the mine permitting is slowing down a response from the DENR liaison.

“Usually when I contact DENR with an issue, they get back to me really fast,” Lowery explained. “But this time I was told it’s more complicated, because it’s on a bigger scale.”

Lowery said he expects to hear back from DENR by the end of this week, or by early next week, at the latest.