n /The^^^ •
Shoreline
Thunder in
the East
See page 26
Vol. 8, No.9
A Shoreline Community, Pine Knoll Shores, N.C.
March 2012
Sheraton Update
By Tom Powers
I'm sure you are aware that the Sheraton Hotel was severely damaged during hur
ricane Irene. Although it doesn't look bad because darnage outside was minimal,
the internal water damage caused by the sustained winds driving the rain through
the seams in the doors was extensive. Virtually every room was damaged, and the
water seeping to the bottom of the structure caused severe damage to the ballrooms
and dining areas.
A restoration company was called in right away, and a demolition was done to
remove damaged materials. In almost every room, sheetrock was removed from the
outside walls and removed three feet up on other walls. All the sheetrock had to be
removed in the ballrooms, and carpeting was removed throughout the hotel.
As there are many decision makers involved multiple insurance companies,
owners, banks and lenders restoration has not yet begun; however, it is expected to
start in the very near future. And because it is such a large structure, nine stories
with 200 rooms, it will take a while. Although decisions are yet to be made, the
current thought is that the hotel will reopen with the same restaurants and facilities
as when it closed. Since it is not known when the work will be starting, there is no
opening date set; however, the goal is to be open by August 1. There is a skeleton
staff of seven people working in the hotel, and they are taking reservations for
rooms and events after that date.
The Pine Knoll xShoios Radio Station broadcasts 24 hours a day
with woatluM and emergency info.
EMERGENCY - 6AU 911
ECC 726-1911 • PUBUC SAFETY 247-2474
Shale Oil and Gas Prospects in
North Carolina
By John Brodman
About 250 million years ago, the earths landmasses came together to form one
super continent called Pangaea. At the time, the land that is now North Carolina
was a tropical and lush region of Pangaea situated near the equator. The Appa
lachian Mountains were formed when the landmasses came together, and they
immediately began to erode as soon as they were formed. About 225 million years
ago, during the first stages of the opening of the Atlantic Ocean, Pangaea started
to break up into what would eventually become the continents as we know them
today. Mesozoic basins were formed by the collapse of the earth's crust along the
eastern seaboard, creating a valley, much like Africa's rift valley, from Florida to
Nova Scotia. These basins were gradually filled over millions of years by a variety of
sediments from the erosion of nearby mountains. Fast-forward a couple of hundred
million years and, voila, some of these sediments were transformed into oil and
gas-bearing subsurface formations.
North Carolina does not currently produce any coal, oil or natural gas. In the late
1700s, coal was discovered in the Deep River Basin, which became, by necessity,
one of the few sources of coal for the Confederate states during the Civil War. Coal
was mined commercially in North Carolina for a time, but a series of underground
mine disasters, including one that took the lives of 53 miners in 1925, and the
economic difficulty of mining narrow and fractured seams of coal that are deeply
buried led to the closure of the last mine in 1953. According to the U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS) and the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR), 128 oil and gas exploration wells were drilled in North Carolina between
1925 and 1998, but none discovered
commercial quantities of oil or gas.
Recent re-examination of the drilling
records, however, suggests that commer
cial quantities of natural gas could be
produced from some formations using
today's technologies.
Past exploratory drilling discovered
the presence of oil and natural gas in
several formations thousands of feet be
low the earth's surface in the Deep River
and Dan River basins of North Carolina.
Today, largely because of technological
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