Report critical of SolarBees does a suspicious disappearing act

Environmentalists are justifiably curious about why state officials published online and then withdrew a report critical of the SolarBee technology that was supposed to reduce the impact of algae in Jordan Lake. The devices churn water, which is supposed to reduce algae’s effects. But the Department of Environmental Quality found last fall that the devices hadn’t really worked.

A DEQ report published online last month found “no improvement in water quality in impaired areas” and noted that the SolarBee project had cost $1.3 million with another $1.5 million to be spent through 2018.

But now the report has been pulled. Why? DEQ says it wasn’t finished, that it was a draft. But the Environmental Management Commission was expecting the report and planning to discuss it. It seems, in other words, that the excuse that it wasn’t finished is a little shaky.

Certainly environmentalists think it is and are wondering – more than wondering, really – if it’s not “finished” because it doesn’t support the contention of Republicans that the SolarBees were a cheaper answer to the lake’s algae problems than, say, stronger environmental regulation on development upstream, something that might upset developers.

The deadline for the report was April 1. But DEQ officials said officials in the Legislative Analysis Division extended the deadline. That is contradicted by no less than Paul Coble, the former Raleigh mayor who now oversees the legislative staff. He said the Legislative Analysis Division “has no authority to extend a statutory deadline.”

So suspicion about the report, and whether what’s in it displeases advocates of the SolarBees, is growing. The report as it stands should be republished. And the ’bees need to be reconsidered.

This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 10:37 PM with the headline "Report critical of SolarBees does a suspicious disappearing act."