RTP by the Sea

Editor:As the proposed Super Port slips farther below the bench mark for economic viability set by the Global Transpark, it is time to consider an alternitive. Working with what nature has given us, a marine reseach park would provide economic growth without catistrophic environmental sacrifice.

A publicly held harbor for commercial fishermen, now being displaced by condos, would be a logical start. This facility could provide all the needed amenities at a fair price, preserving heritaqe and making money. Our local institutions of higher learning will have a campus well situated to further the marine sciences and aqua-culture, working with the fishermen to find more sustainable ways to grow and harvest the bounty of the ocean and esturine environment. Public waters from Masonboro to Bald Head would be utilized to re-establish shellfish and hatcheries, learn how to better minimize pollution, and provide meaningful employment helping to feed the world as findings are adopted in other regions. The campus might also provide a location for deslination and energy production research. While improvements to Carolina Beach inlet would fit into the plan, a channel capable of handling supertankers and requiring constant dredging of Bald Head and the Southport waterfront as they slide into it, will not be needed.

Nor will heavily burdened roadways subject to a known sink hole problem.

In summation, a vital and profitable endeavor to show our children verses blight.

William Augustus marlowe
Wilmington