Sound Rivers and its supporters claimed a victory Thursday in Beaufort County Superior Court.

Superior Court Judge Douglas Parsons overturned a previous ruling against the local environmental advocacy organization’s right to contest a state permit that would allow up to 12 million gallons of water per day to be discharged into two tributaries of Blounts Creek, ultimately changing the ecosystem.

“It was really important to have the lower court ruling overturned,” said Sound Rivers riverkeeper Heather Jacobs Deck. “We’re still in it, and today was an affirmation of our right to be there and asking these questions, and questioning the permit.”

In September of 2013, Sound Rivers (then Pamlico-Tar River Foundation) and North Carolina Coastal Federation filed a petition with the state objecting to the Division of Water Resources’ issuance of a National Pollution Elimination Discharge System permit (NPDES) to Martin Marietta Materials, Inc., the company that plans to build a limestone mine on 649 acres in southern Beaufort County. With the mine comes water used in the mining process, pumped from the Castle Hayne aquifer, along with the need to dispose of it. Methods of disposal explored by Martin Marietta included land application, discharge into a larger freshwater creek, reinjection into the aquifer and discharge into the tributaries of Blounts Creek, in areas classified by the state as swamp waters. According to the Sound Rivers petition, the choice of Blounts Creek as a discharge site would harm the creek dramatically, changing the pH of the waters in an area already designated by the state as a nursery for saltwater species.

In January, Administrative Law Judge Phil Berger Jr. ruled that Sound Rivers and NCCF had no standing to question the permit, stating that the organizations were not “persons aggrieved” and allowed the permit to stand.

Sound Rivers, NCCF and counsel from the Southern Environmental Law Center appealed Berger’s decision and the case headed to Superior Court on Thursday.

SELC Attorney Geoff Gisler argued on behalf of Sound Rivers and NCCF that the organizations not only had legal standing, but that DWR had violated the Clean Water Act and its own standards by not recognizing protections afforded to swamp waters and issuing a permit that would change the natural pH of the waters, potentially harming species already in existence there.

Attorneys from the Department of Justice argued that DWR had not erred in its issuance of the permit; that the agency, in fact, went above and beyond what it was required to do in assessing impact on the creek, taking into account all reports made — from Martin Marietta consultants and those submitted by Sound Rivers — as well as public comment.

Both North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and the Division of Marine Fisheries objected to the permit prior to its issuance, suggesting that the alternative discharge methods should be considered rather than potentially harm the Blounts Creek ecosystem.

Parsons interrupted DOJ lawyers at one point to ask if DWR had made any other evaluation of alternative discharge methods between April of 2013, when Wildlife Resources and Marine Fisheries reports were submitted, and three months later when the NPDES permit was issued. The answer was that no further evaluation had been done.

DOJ also argued that a change in pH would lead to a robustness of species and, though swamp waters are subcategory of Class C waters, swamp waters are not afforded the same protections, while attorneys from the law firm of Brooks Pierce, representing Martin Marietta, continued to make the argument that Sound Rivers and NCCF did not qualify as “persons aggrieved.”

The hearing wrapped up in less that four hours, but neither party was expecting a same day ruling, however Parsons made the point, several times during the proceedings that he had reviewed all materials submitted by all parties and invested “voluminous amounts of time in reading” the material, which will not go to waste should Parsons’ decision be appealed.

“We were very pleased to have the summary judgment of the lower court reversed,” said Harrison Marks, executive director of Sound Rivers. “We’re also pleased that (Parsons) retained jurisdiction over the case should it be appealed following the lower court ruling.”

While DOJ and Martin Marietta were hoping for a decision that would support the permit as it stands, Parsons instead ruled that the disputed facts of the case need to be addressed in an evidentiary hearing that will include witness and expert testimony.

While Sound Rivers was hoping Parsons would vacate the NPDES permit altogether, Deck said his ruling was a victory two years in the making, not only for Sound Rivers but for all the members of the “Save Blounts Creek” committee and its supporters.

“The local community has rallied to protect to its creek when the state failed to do so,” Deck said.