If Congress passes the president's proposed 2015 budget, North Carolina's coast could lose a century-old marine lab.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's lab in Beaufort is on the chopping block.
Ciaran Clayton is a spokeswoman for NOAA.
“The current cost per year to operate and maintain the facility (is) about $1.6 million per year,” Clayton said. “It's an aging facility and would require additional funding to make those improvements, something that is just not currently in our current budget or in our future budgets.”