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Proposed Havelock by-pass faced federal lawsuit

A federal lawsuit was filed Thursday challenging the construction of the Havelock bypass. George Olsen has more.

The filing by the Southern Environmental Law Center in the U-S District Court for the eastern district of North Carolina says the proposed route for the Havelock bypass is the most damaging route available for the proposed bypass. The filing on behalf of the Sierra Club says the route which cuts through the Croatan National Forest would damage more wetlands, streams and wildlife habitat than other alternatives. It also alleges state and federal transportation officials failed to fully assess the impact of the bypass. A press release from the Southern Environmental Law Center also questions the need for the bypass, saying travelers would only save eight minutes maximum while costing taxpayers $179 million. I’m George Olsen.

George Olsen is a 1977 Havelock High School graduate. He received his B.A. in Broadcast Journalism from the University of South Carolina in 1982 where he got his first taste of non-commercial radio working for their student station WUSC. After graduation he worked about five years in commercial radio before coming to work at Public Radio East where he has remained since outside of a nearly 3-year stint as jazz and operations coordinator at WUAL in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in the early 1990s. On his return to eastern North Carolina he hosted classical music for Public Radio East before moving into the Morning Edition host position and now can be heard on All Things Considered. He also hosts and produces The Sound, five hours of Americana, Roots Rock and Contemporary Folk weekday evenings on PRE Public Radio East News & Ideas, and is a news and feature producer for Public Radio East.