Dam’s benefits

While listing the benefits of destroying the Milburnie Dam in Raleigh (Nature will be revitalized! Lives will be saved!), George Howard ignores several points in his Nov. 29 Point of View article.

He does not tell readers that the dam has been in place since 1855.

He does not mention the beauty of the dam’s waterfalls (and the scenic value of this site for the greenway).

He does not discuss what a lowering of the Neuse River level (by 10 feet, according to some estimates) would do to existing wetlands or to the homes that border them.

Most strikingly, although Howard expresses concern for American shad and striped bass, he never mentions the dam’s nearby human residents. Nor does he explain how this project’s goal, “new development in the same watershed,” will impact these communities.

Finally, Howard does not reveal how much he will profit from this act of destruction, one of whose aims, as stated in an N&O news story, is to help “builders speed projects that might otherwise get mired in red tape or be permanently stalled.”

Jim Neilson

Raleigh