Engineers Uncover New Source Os Nitrogen
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Dr. Neil Grigg WE. Smith Capt. Al Howard
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Vol. XLVI-No. 37
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Noted And Passed
A group of businessmen along
the Public Parade were involved
in a discussion about bad checks.
There were as many ways of
handling the increasing problem
as there were participants in the
conversation.
Murray Nixon gets a lot of
checks in his fishery operations on
the Chowan River and in Hyde
County. “When I get a bad check I
just post it in the window.”
Does it work? “Ain’t got but one
up there now,” he answered.
Elsewhere in today’s newspaper
s a letter regarding an editorial in
his space last week. Our im
nediate reply is:
If the “locally owned
estaurant” served food at prices
m par with the bargain one gets
)y purchasing this newspaper,
hen maybe the “one sided” editor
:ould afford to take his family out
o eat more often.
The Town of Menton’s general
und revenue this year is boosted
>y $271,249 from electric fund
profits. This is equal to 52 cents
per SIOO valuation on the tax rate.
Vithout these profits, the town tax
ate would be $1.31.
In order to continue this prac
ice, the town needs more large
volume electric customers, not
'acant homes and businesses.
Fourth Os July
A blending of new with the old is
vhat has made the Public Parade
i good place to live, work and
>lay. Friday’s Fourth of July
:elebration is a case in point.
When the kids on Pembroke
Circle grew up the last semblance
if local observance of In
tependence Day faded away. In
ecent years Murray Nixon’s fish
ry drew crowds to his fishery on
he Chowan River. Some later
lathered on the east bank to enjoy
ireworks from Colerain.
Attention this year, however,
rill focus cm downtown Edenton.
lie inflation and the greedy have
ancelled the Nixon fish fry and
riiat is billed as the largest
ireworks display on the water in
forth Carolina is set for Edenton
lay.
The “proposed” Edenton
!howan Optimist Club is hon
oring a series of activities
riday, beginning at 10 A.M.
'lans have beat made to attract
0,000 people to Edenton. A
majority of than are expected to
Continued on Page *
Closings Slated
All local, county, state and
aderal offices will be closed
Yiday, in observance of In
ependence Day.
The Town of Edenton, therefore,
as scheduled the following
arbage collection:
West Edenton - Tuesday and
East Menton - Monday and
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, July 3, 1980
10,000 Expected For Fourth
Edenton Bay will become aglow
Friday night to signal the end of
the first annual Fourth of July
celebration which could attract
upwards of 10,000 people. The
grand finale, at about 10:45 P.M.,
will be a giant American Flag
fireworks presentation.
The event is billed as the largest
RURITANS TOUR JAIL During a dinner meeting of the
Chowan Ruritan Club at the new detention facility, Sheriff Troy
Toppin gave the guests a first-hand look at the security set-up. He
is shown demonstrating the use of the television monitors. Sheriff
Toppin said the jail is also equipped with an interlock system that
prevents more than one security door from being opened at a
time. He added that an escaping prisoner would have to get
through eight such doors before breaching the cell block.
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Bob Lewis
Jail Inspector
Permits Decrease
Building permits in North
Carolina, in 44 reporting cities of
more than 10,000 population, in
January dropped 2 per cent below
December, 1979, and 8.9 per cent
under January, 1979.
Labor Commissioner John C.
Brooks has reported a total of 2,513
permits, valued at $67,333,789
were issued in the cities.
Commissioner Brooks also
reported that in Edenton and
Chowan County the permits
totaled $379,276. It included seven
single-family units; four multi
family units; one nonresidential
unit; and five additions or
alterations.
In other Northeastern North
Carolina counties the following
was reported:
Camden, $72,400; Currituck,
$699,930; Dare, $2,322,930;
Pasquotank, $16,000; Perquimans,
$57,500; and Washington, $40,967.
There were no reports from Gates,
Hyde and Tyrrell counties.
The report showed that 20 of the
cities had less new activity than
Edenton and Cbowan County.
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Brent Brower C.A. Phillips
fireworks display on the water in
North Carolina. The first blast
from the $2,000 display will take
place at 10 P.M. on one of two
barges anchored in bay behind
Edenton Municipal Building, and
just off Colonial Park.
A sailboat race will kick-off the
day’s activities at 10 A.M. and
Tour Facility
Members of the Chowan Ruritan
Club got a first hand look at the
Chowan County Jail, Monday
night on the eve of its opening, and
Bob Lewis, a jail inspector with
the state Department of Human
Resources termed it one of the
most unique and modern in the
country.
Sheriff Troy Toppin and his staff
of four jailers gave the guests a
guided tour of the $650,000 facility.
Included in the group were
commissioners Alton G. Elmore
and Lester T. Copeland as well as
Mrs. Lena M. Leary, Clerk of
Superior Court, and Mrs. Anne K.
Spruill, Register of Deeds.
During the dinner meeting,
k Continued on Page 4
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LEADERS IN COTTON PROJECT—CarroII Bass, right, president of Albemarle Cotton Growers
Cooperative, Inc., is pictured here with other project leaders as construction began of a gin in rural
Cbowan County. Left to right are: Roy Shaw, N.C. Rural Fund for Development; J. Clarence Leary,
Jr., board member; Thurman Ashley, vice president; George Jordan, treasurer; David Ober!
secretary; Melvin Howell, Farmers Home Administration; and James Ball, Bank of North
Carolina, N.A.
Schedule On Page 4
street dances begin at 8 P.M.
Water Street will be blocked off
all day Friday. Broad Street from
Eden Street south will be blocked
off at 7:30 P.M.
Edenton Jaycees are in charge
of the 12:15 P.M. from Water
Street to Holmes High School.
Harold Herman and Blake Har
mon are in charge of the event and
say time remains for entrance of
units.
Music for the street dances will
be Smokin Joe and Frank Corey
and The Squires.
Bruce Creekmore and Richard
Dixon, co-chairman of the Edenton-
Chowan Optimist Club sponsored
event, will be aided by
representatives of the Smithfield
Optimist Club in the fireworks
display. Creekmore organized a
similar celebration 10 years ago in
Smithfield.
Most of the activities of the day
will be free. There will be a
minimum charge for some ac
tivities.
Creekmore said 15,000 soft
drinks are expected to be sold
during the day, along with 4,500
hot dogs.
Plans to have formal dedication
of Queen Anne Park on East Water
Street had to be cancelled because
work on the facility had not
progressed sufficiently. Some of
the events will be held in the area
anyway.
Cotton Cooperative Formed By Local Farmers
Thirty-five farmers have for
med the Albemarle Cotton
Growers Cooperative, Inc., and
work began this week on the site of
a gin. Growers have purchased
$66,000 in stock and have obtained
a $191,000 loan in order to establish
operations.
Stock was purchased on the
basis of SSO per acre of cotton
grown. The loan was obtained
from Bank of North Carolina,
N.A., in Edenton, with a 90 per
cent Farmers Home Ad
ministration guarantee. No grant
money was available for this
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Single Copies 20 Cents
By L.F. Amburn, Jr.
WINTON Five tons of nitrogen per day could be going into the
Chowan River from the CF Industries site at Tunis. Three tons of it may
be coming from air emissions, an entirely new source uncovered in a
two-month study by a private engineering firm.
This damaging evidence surfaced here Thursday afternoon when
engineers with the J.E. Sirrine Company reported to the Chowan
Regional Task Force. Representatives of CFI and another primary
polluter - Union Camp in Franklin, Va. - attended the briefing.
Brent Brower of the Sirrine firm predicted clean-up efforts at CFI will
“never get to the point where you totally eliminate the flow of nitrogen
from this site to the river.” He added: “You must try to harness what
you can in the most feasible manner.”
Schools Receive
Grant Totalling
$162,714.84
WASHINGTON, D.C. Rep.
Walter B. Jones of the First
Congressional District has an
nounced the approval by the Office
of Education of grants totaling
$162,714.84 to Edenton-Chowan
Schools.
Edenton-Chowan Schools will
receive $150,277 in the form of a
basic grant under the Emergency
School Aid Act; and $12,437.84 in
federal assistance
Edenton-Chowan Schools will
receive $150,277 in the form of a
basic grant under the Emergency
School Aid Act; and $12,437.84 in
federal assistance for current
expenditures.
The purpose of the ESAA grant
is to assist the process of
eliminating, reducing, or
preventing minority group
isolation and aiding school
children in overcoming the
educational disadvantages of
minority group isolation.
Federal assistance for current
expenditures is available to
schools in federally affected
areas. Dare County received
$47,952.88; Jones County,
$10,193.65; and Hyde County,
$6,576.68.
Rain Arrives
“Great! A great rain,” is the
way Pete Thompson, Chowan
County extension chairman,
described the general rain which
fell here Sunday night.
“It was spotted,” he continued.
“All areas of the counties didn’t
get an inch and a half of rain, but
in general it was great.”
This was the first general rain in
the area in several weeks. Some
fear that a greater portion of the
field corn will be severly damaged
because of the drought.
Also, dry, hot weather has
curtailed the vegetable crop in
many areas.
program.
There are approximately 1,600
acres of cotton planted in Chowan
County this year, up from 710
acres harvested a year ago. A
spokesman for the cooperative
predicted that more than 3,000
acres would be planted next year,
primarily due to “droughted”
corn.
The cooperative has purchased
a gin in Georgia and it is being
moved to a five-acre site on SR
1223, some 10 miles north of
Edenton, off Highway 32. There
will be three gin stalls, capable of
Later in a private conversation,
Brower said shutting down CFI
would not be in the best interest of
cleanup efforts. It has been
estimated that some 14-million
pounds of nitrogen is on the plant
side.
, The state had estimated up to
1,200 pounds of nitrogen per day
were entering the river from CFI.
Sirrine engineers said nitrogen
entering the algae-choked river
from an 87-acre swamp and
possible cracks in a sl-million wall
were more accurately estimated
at 2,000 to 4,000 pounds.
Terry Bradham, a second
Sirrine engineer, pointed out that
the surface entry tends to go up
and down with the river flow. He
did say, however, it is encouraging
to see vegetation increasing in the
swamp.
Capt. Al Howard, chairman of
the task force, and C.A. Phillips,
chairman of Chowan County
commissioners, had been most vo
cal in obtaining a report from an in
dependent engineering firm. After
much insistence from local people
the statefunded the Sirrine study
at a cost of $11,990.
One task force member pointed
out that the most damaging
evidence of CFl’s contribution to
the low water quality in the
Chowan River was uncovered in
such a short period of time. “The
state and CFI have been going at it
since 1972 at an enormous cost,
yet it takes a private firm only 60
days to ‘tell it like it is’,” he said.
A state environmental offical
told the group that at the present
time CFI is meeting air standards.
“We know there is certain
amounts (of nitrogen) going into
the river through air emissions but
there is no technically acceptable
means of measurement,” he
added.
Sirrine engineers estimated that
bluff stormwater improvements
and east ditch stormwater im
provements w'ere accepteble
short-term solutions. The coast
was set at $275,000; the “cost to
benefit” being relatively small.
Long-term solutions were
Continued on Page 4
handing 10 to 12 bales per hour.
J. Clarence Leary. Jr., one of the
organizers and a member of the
board, said cotton farmers in this
area had been required to haul
their cotton to gins in Mur
freesboro or Bethel, both 40 miles
from Edenton. Transportation
costs were placed at sls per bale.
“Also, if we had kept those
trailers on the highway for such
distances someone would have
been killed,” he added.
Chowan Construction Company,
Inc., has the contract for site
preperation and concrete work.
Harry Ussery is the engineer.
Carroll Bass is president of the
cooperative. Thurman Ashley is
vice preisdent; David Ober,
secretary; and George Jordan,
treasurer. Leary, Fahey Byrum
Continued on Page 4
Fire Tax Levied
In adopting the Chowan County
budget for fiscal 1980-81, com
missioners approved a fire district
tax of four cents per SIOO
valuation. This is a penny higher
than for the current year.
County Manger Cliff Copeland
said the first district fund totals
$39,548. Os the amount budgeted,
the Town of Edenton receives
$27,000 and the remaining $14,548
goes to Crossroads Volunteer Fire
Department.
With the new rate, residents
living within the firre district will
pay SI.OB per SIOO valuation in ad
valorem taxes.