A state administrative court has upheld the permit that will allow a mining company to dispose of wastewater used in the mining process into local waterways.

Judge Phil Berger Jr. made the ruling Friday to the petition filed in September of 2013 against the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, objecting to the issuance of a NPDES (National Pollution Discharge Elimination System) permit to Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. The limestone mining company intends to build a 649-acre pit-mine operation in southern Beaufort County and use the headwaters of Blounts Creek as the discharge point of potentially 12 million gallons of fresh water per day into the brackish creek. The petition opposing the NPDES permit, filed by Washington-based Pamlico-Tar River Foundation, North Carolina Coastal Federation and the Southern Environmental Law Center, addressed the environmental impact that amount of fresh water could have on a ecosystem designated as a nursery habitat for many saltwater species.

During a January hearing, attorneys for DENR and Martin Marietta made the argument that while the inland areas of the creek would be affected by a large, steady flow of fresh water, at the mouth of Blounts Creek, there would be little change to the pH, therefore little harm done there.

To SELC attorney Geoff Gisler, Berger’s decision came as some surprise.

“The judge asked us some questions at the hearing that, looking back, indicated how the ruling would come out,” Gisler said, referring to Berger’s pointed questioning on whether SELC, NCCF and PTRF had any legal standing to file the petition. “What’s very surprising is how at odds with established law the ruling is. … What the court ruled was essentially that North Carolinians don’t have the right to go into court and require the state to enforce the law. The overarching goal of the Clean Water Act is to make water fishable and swimmable. What this decision says is that those aren’t rights. … That’s in conflict with state and federal law so, yes, I was surprised by the scope.”

PTRF Executive Director Harrison Marks said Berger’s ruling was deeply flawed.

“The other thing that the judge said in his ruling was really to say that we don’t have any standing in the courtroom, if we as citizens feel the government has violated the law,” Marks said. “The law, we believe, is quite clear on that we do.”

Marks said the hearing and judgment were just the first step in the process. Berger’s decision would be appealed within the next 30 days in Beaufort County Superior Court, Gisler said.