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Lawsuit Accuses Wilkesboro Of Dumping Waste In Yadkin River

A lawsuit says Wilkesboro employees dumped untreated wastewater into the Yadkin River.  The suit also alleges that water samples were falsified to mislead state environmental authorities.

It was filed earlier this month by Scott Church, a former town employee who says he was fired for making the allegations.

The lawsuit says Church worked at the wastewater treatment plant from 2000 until August of this year.

According to the Winston-Salem Journal, Church says he saw untreated wastewater dumped in the river at least twice this year, and also witnessed plant employees falsifying water samples.

The lawsuit accuses town officials of ignoring his concerns and eventually firing him.

Town attorney John Willardson says Church didn't make the allegations until he was fired. Willardson says the town is working with state environmental officials to ensure the water is safe.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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