DURHAM - The Army Corps of Engineers has received a proposal from PCS Phosphate Inc. to mine 2,408 acres of wetlands adjacent to the Pamlico River in Beaufort County. The Corps should deny the request. Loss of this wetland area diminishes a sustainable economy in Eastern North Carolina in favor of one-time gain only to a small group of investors.

We may think of wetlands simply as breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other vermin, but they provide important services to all of us. Wetlands cleanse runoff waters of pollutants and provide nursery grounds for fish. Coastal floodplains trap much of the sediment carried by rivers, slowing the silting of harbors.Wetlands harbor soil bacteria, known as denitrifying bacteria, which convert dissolved nitrate in river water to nitrogen gas, which is then released harmlessly to the atmosphere. In the absence of these bacteria, excessive nitrate from fertilizer and animal runoff causes algal blooms, which kill fishes and other wildlife in our coastal waterways.

Over 90 percent of the commercial fishes harvested in North Carolina are dependent upon wetlands as nursery habitat for young fish. Commercial harvest of fish has already fallen dramatically in recent years -- nearly 50 percent between 2000 and 2005 -- to the extent that we may soon lose fishing as a sustainable livelihood and a heritage of our coastal towns. Recreational fisheries may not be far behind. Loss of natural habitat that sustains fish populations is implicated as a major cause of these declines, exacerbated by overfishing of the remaining stock.

PSC Phosphate has proposed to mitigate some of its impact by creating and restoring wetlands elsewhere, but recent studies in Eastern North Carolina by Greg Bruland and Curtis Richardson of Duke's Nicholas School indicate that such artificial wetlands have substantially different soil properties than those seen in natural wetlands. We have already suffered a loss of half of the wetland area in North Carolina; we cannot afford to lose more.

The Pamlico-Tar River Foundation has compiled a list of eight major functions of wetlands that would be impacted or lost by mining these 2,408 acres, which harbor over 7 miles of streams and shorelines. The Clean Water Act (section 404(b)1) protects wetlands, unless it can be shown that the destruction of a wetland causes no harm.

This is the largest proposed destruction of wetlands in our state's history. If the Clean Water Act cannot work in this jurisdiction, we should fear that it has become only a hollow document that will be unable to protect the remaining wetlands anywhere in the country.

Long after the wetlands are gone, the phosphate is depleted and the profits have moved away to the stockholders of PCS Phosphate, our coastal ecosystems will be impoverished. What was once a vibrant fishery will not support the next generation of commercial fishermen. The remaining wetlands now sustain an economy that includes recreational fishing and hunting, but these too will disappear if the habitat for wildlife is depleted. Are we content to lose an industry that is part of the heritage of Eastern North Carolina, and depend increasingly on imported seafoods?

Certainly, coastal counties have not enjoyed the rapid growth of high-paying jobs that have fueled our state's economy in recent years. But coastal citizens should realize that the sustainable economy supplied by nature will be with us long after the phosphate deposits are gone. Think not only of today, but also of what will make this state viable and beautiful for tomorrow.

(William H. Schlesinger is dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University, where he is also the James B. Duke professor of biogeochemistry.)

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