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the money to an unnamed contractor - whose qualifications could have only been SePro's - for a pilot chemical treatment. The bill language required the state department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to conduct sampling and then, pending Corps approval, facilitate SePro's chemical plan. However, as of October, DEQ had not signed a contract with the Indiana -based company. Founded by an NC State University alumus with deep ties to the chemical industry, SePro also has facilities in Rocky Mount and Whitakers. Brubaker did not respond to a request for comment. Nor did Rep. Nelson Dollar, a Wake County Republican and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. The question of how to clean up pollution in Jordan Lake has dogged the legislature for nearly a decade, since 2009, when lawmakers passed rules that would have more strictly regulated in particular, housing and commercial development. But special interests, such as the real estate lobby, chafed at the regulations. As a result, lawmakers have repeatedly delayed the implementation of the rules. Instead, they have floated other initiatives, including SolarBees, which were supposed to churn the water and prevent algae from growing. The $1 million project failed. An overgrowth of algae can tax water treatment plants that must filter the microorganisms from finished water. Some types of algae are toxic and can sicken people or animals that touch or ingest the contaminated water. Parts of Jordan Lake are designated as "impaired" on the federal government's official list of such waters because of several factors, including the presence of chlorophyll a, an energy source for algae. SePro had proposed a chemical treatment for Jordan Lake to DEQ in 2016. Emails obtained by Policy Watch indicated that DEQ scientists disapproved of the proposal, citing a lack of information and potential environmental impacts of a copper -based algaecide. The EPA also chimed in, stating that chemical treatments could run afoul of the Clean Water Act. Undaunted, SePro responded with an alternate proposal using a peroxide -based chemical known as Pak27. Under the proposal, as much as 280 million pounds of Pak27 would be sprayed in the Morgan Arm as many as eight times — either in a single day or over a longer period. Although less toxic than copper -based compounds, Pak27 could kill zooplankton, which other organisms depend on for food, DEQ wrote. In the proposal, DEQ outlined a sampling and monitoring plan to track any effects of SePro's various treatments. Adding to the concern, the proposal was largely secret. Public copies of SePro's proposal were heavily redacted because the company claimed the details were proprietary. UNC scientists contacted by Policy Watch could not evaluate the plan because there was so little public information. Elaine Chiosso, executive director of the Haw River Assembly, commended the Corps' decision to not approve the state's proposal. She told Policy Watch that the watchdog group "is appalled that the General Assembly funded this algaecide project, which would do nothing to actually clean up ongoing nutrient pollution into the lake." If SePro, via DEQ, still chooses to pursue the pilot project, it would have to If the state chooses to prepare an Environmental Assessment or even a more involved Environmental Impact Statement. Both those processes, required by pursue the project, we federal law, entail public notice and comment.