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ews & Obseiver( Print Friendly) : littp : //www , . . m/newire/news/Story/910279p . 907742c . litml n es e r Y e r. c o m Published : Thursday , February 14 , 2002 8 : 47 a . m . EST Budget cuts cripple clean water pro " ects RALEIGH , N . C . (AP ) - - A state fund dedicated to moving swine farms out of flood plains and preserving maritime forests has been crippled as Gov . Mike Easley attempts to narrow the budget shortfall . Easley froze more than half of the $ 40 million budget of the Clean Water Management Trust Fund as part of his plan to balance North Carolina ' s budget . 0 With $ 20 . 8 million unavailable , the fund will have trouble paying for projects already approved . Those projects include a $ 1 million wastewater reuse project in Chatham County , a $ 5 . 9 million buyout of flood - prone swine farms and a $ 2 million purchase of rare maritime forest on Ocracoke Island . " It' s a big setback , " said Molly Diggins , state director of the Sierra Club . " We understand that these decisions are painful , but North Carolina ' s losing land faster than almost any other state in the country . " The budget cuts complicate the state ' s slow progress toward a goal of protecting 1 million acres from development by 2010 . Budget- balancing already has taken $ 8 million from two other land conservation programs . Created in 1996 , the Clean Water Management Trust Fund has spent more than $ 220 million to protect forests and wetlands , repair failing wastewater systems , buy out polluting farms and undertake other projects to fight water pollution . Instead of considering 100 new applications for land and water projects , the fund ' s trustees will have to rescind grants for local governments and nonprofit organizations . Some of the groups have made investments and expect the state to reimburse them . " We ' re going to have to sit down and assess how much money we really have left and what we ' ve approved , " said Bill Holman , the fund ' s executive director . " We may well have to make contact with some folks and say , ' Sorry . " ' Despite the uncertainty , the state Division of Soil and Water Conservation has not changed its schedule for the second phase of the hog lagoon buyout . The first round of the buyouts closed out pollution - prone open -waste pits on four farms and will do the same for 10 more , said Cathy Akroyd , a division spokeswoman . Other farmers who want to sell their properties to the state face a Feb . 28 application deadline , she said , but the state won ' t have any money to pay them if the $ 5 . 9 million approved last year is frozen . BACK - © Copyright 2000 , The News & Observer . All material found on newsobserver. com is copyrighted The News & Observer and associated news services . No material may be reproduced or reused without explicit permission from The News & Observer . 2/ 14/2002 9 : 59 AM