Brunswick County looking to clean up Lockwood Folly River

Cleaning up Lockwood Folly River is front and center in Brunswick County these days.

The river is polluted, and one proposed way to clean it up is through a process called bioremediation.

Bioremediation is when bacteria are introduced into the water to get rid of pollutants.

A company called EnviRemed proposed the idea.

Members of the North Carolina Coastal Federation say cleaning up the river is a priority, but bioremediation might not be the way.

Tracy Skrabel, NC Coastal Federation, said, “I think our question would be how much bacteria are we talking, what are the potential downsides of using bacteria in this open flowing system. I think the potential is good, but the devil is always in the details with these kinds of projects.”

Skrabel says Lockwood Folly is about 60 percent closed for shell fishing at this point.

The Coastal Federation is working on a large initiative to clean it up.