Sturgeon City
What was once a wastewater treatment plant now offers educational opportunities to students and a home to the native sturgeon species which once spawned in the waters of Wilson Bay.
http://www.sturgeoncity.org/
The New River and Wilson Bay used to be the dumping place for treated wastewater from the city of Jacksonville, North Carolina. This resulted in little to no life in the river and making it useless for fishermen and recreational activities. In 1998, a new wastewater treatment plant was built and it operates on a different system and no longer discharges into the New River. The Wilson Bay Initiative was created to clean up the waterway and the old plant has been overhauled to raise sturgeon, a native species of fish that used to spawn in Wilson Bay. Today, Sturgeon City is now an environmental education center which provides programs to the public.
Sturgeon City offers Onslow County and Camp Lejeune students free field trips. “Activities include: exploration of the Sturgeon City restored and natural marsh, plant and animal identification and classification with field books and lecture, examination of a freshwater lily pond habitat, and tours of the former Wilson Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant and the newer Land Application plant.”
Sturgeon City is located on Wilson Bay, just off the New River. Contact Jeanne Stanley at 938-6452 or jstanley@ci.jacksonville.nc.us to schedule a trip or to request more information.


