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Gov. Cooper Vetoes Environmental Bill That Includes Funds For GenX Cleanup

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed House Bill 56 on Thursday. The bill amends several environmental laws. Photo by Associated Press photographer Gerry Broome.

Gov. Cooper says he will veto a controversial bill that would amend several environmental laws. It includes funding for local efforts to cleanup pollution in the Cape Fear River.

The wide-ranging environmental measure contained more than $400,000 to cleanup and monitor the chemical known as GenX. Until recently, a plant upstream from Wilmington discharged the chemical into the Cape Fear River.

Gov. Cooper says the proposal doesn't go far enough to protect water quality statewide.

Two departments in the Democratic governor's administration had wanted $2.6 million to hire more water quality monitors and scientists. Cooper says repeated budget cuts have left resources stretched thin for state regulators. He says nearly 70 positions have been cut from the Water Quality Division of the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) alone since 2013.

But GOP leaders accuse the governor of playing politics and say the legislation would provide immediate action for local cleanup of the chemical. House speaker Tim Moore of Cleveland County says the GenX crisis is the failure of state regulators that spans multiple decades and not recent budget cuts.

Now Republican legislators returning in early October must decide whether to try to override the veto — Cooper's 12th since taking office in January.

The bill also contains several other measures, including lifting the ban on plastic bags at stores in the Outer Banks.

*Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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