DEQ to hold public hearing on proposed Water Supply-IV Critical Area reclassification of Teer Quarry and a section of the Eno River in Durham County

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will hold a public hearing on Nov. 3, 2022, on the proposed Water Supply-IV Critical Area reclassification of Teer Quarry and a section of the Eno River in the Neuse River Basin. The public is invited to provide comment on the proposal at Durham Technical Community College’s Northern Durham Center, Building 1, Room 130, beginning at 6 p.m.

The City of Durham has requested that Teer Quarry and an Eno River segment in Durham County (Neuse River Basin) be reclassified from being in a Class Water Supply-IV (WS-IV) (Protected Area or PA) to the Class WS-IV Critical Area (CA) designation. This reclassification is needed because the City of Durham seeks to construct a new intake in the river, pump water from the intake to the quarry, and utilize the quarry’s waters as a public water supply.

Teer Quarry is located adjacent to the southern side of the Eno River, approximately five miles west of Falls Lake, and at the northern terminus of Denfield Street in Durham. The proposed riverine intake is located about 1.1 miles downstream of the U.S. 501 bridge. The boundary for the proposed CA for the quarry consists of the top of the quarry’s berm, and the boundary for the proposed CA for the new intake would extend approximately 0.5 mile from and draining to that intake. There are no named tributaries to the river or quarry included in this proposal. The waters to be reclassified meet surface water supply water quality standards according to 2021 DWR studies.

Event: Public Hearing on Proposed Water Supply-IV Critical Area Reclassification
When: Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022, at 6 p.m.
Where: Durham Technical Community College - Northern Durham Center, Building 1 - Room 130, 2401 Snow Hill Road, Durham, NC 27712

The public is also invited to comment in writing on the proposed changes. Written comments must be received by DEQ no later than November 14, 2022. Please email written comments to elizabeth.kountis@ncdenr.gov.

Comments may also be submitted by mail to:

The proposed rules and supporting documents are available online.