PAGE 2 -A? THE BRUNSWICK BEACON. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1994
Fuel Rods Waiting Offshore; Energy Secretary Delays Delivery
BY SUSAN USHER
TVo ships were still waiting off
Brunswick County's coast Tuesday to off
load their cargo of 153 spent fuel rods from
European research reactors at the Sunny
Point Military Ocean Terminal docks near
Southport.
"They are not here right now, but they are
out there somewhere," Brunswick County
Emergency Management Coordinator Cecil
Logan said Tuesday morning. "They were
not being unloaded today or yesterday,
though people thought they were. We know
when the fuel will be here and where it is
going."
Late Monday U.S. Secretary of Energy
Hazel O'Leary decided to delay arrival of
the shipments for a "short time" as a "cour
tesy" to the state of South Carolina so that
its bid to stop the shipments could be heard
by the full U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals
in Richmond, Va., DOE spokesman Jayne
Brady said Tuesday.
Tuesday afternoon, after news reports that
the vessels delivering the fuel rods were off
the mouth of the Cape Fear River,
Congressman Charlie Rose asked O'Leary
to move the ships farther offshore.
According to a news release, O'Leary as
sured Rose that "if the court has not ren
dered a decision by tomorrow (Wednesday)
afternoon she will order the ships to interna
tional waters."
"This mess we find ourselves in now is
the reason I fought the importation of these
rods from the beginning," said Rose.
Last Friday a 4th Circuit Court of
Appeals panel in Charlotte overturned a
lower court stay blocking acceptance of the
fuel rods. It said it would allow the first
shipment of fuel elements to enter the coun
try while a lower court resolves a dispute
between the state of South Carolina and the
U.S. Department of Energy.
South Carolina filed a motion Monday
asking the full 4th Circuit to consider the
state's challenge. "We don't know if it can
be heard in time because we don't know
where the ships are or when they will ar
rive," Julie Horton, public information di
rector with the South Carolina Attorney
General's office, said prior to O'Leary's de
cision later that day.
Armed with more advance notice than re
quired by federal regulations, Logan put
Brunswick County's radiological emergency
response team on standby for one week as of
Monday, he said. Once the shipments are out
of Brunswick County, the team will remain
available to assist similar units elsewhere
along the rail route if needed.
"They are trained to identify, isolate and
" Shipments of this
same type... have been
going through the state
for years ^we *ve never
had any problems with
i *ukm I SfcJBL Wb
difference!? tWn pMfne
weren 't aware of the
movement. "
? Elaine Wathen
call for help," said Logan. He said DOE's
response team and the State Highway
Patrol's security team are also both in place
in anticipation of the shipment.
Before arriving at the Sunny Point docks
the casks will be checked by a radiological
assessment team. Then the three casks con
taining the rods are to be shipped by train
under heavy security measures to the DOF.'s
Savannah River Site near Aiken, SC., .sniv
eling through either Pembroke or Monroe
before turning south. The casks are under
armed guard and are inside shipping con
tainers that will be nailed to rail cars. The
DOE will not confirm arrival of the ship
ments until 10 days after the casks reach
their destination.
It isn't the first time noi the last that ship
ments of this type have crossed North
Carolina on their way to the Savannah River
Site, but it is the fiist time DOE has been re
quired to ko through an environmental as
sessment process involving the public. A
coalition of environmental organizations is
protesting movement of the cargo through
the state and state agencies have also raised
objections.
"Shipments of this same type of nuclear
waste have been going through the state for
years," Elaine Wathen, a planner with the
N.C. Department of Emergency Manage
ment said last Thursday. "We've never had
any problems. I think the difference is that
people weren't aware of the movement.
They haven't noticed the trucks on interstate
highway with the radioactive placards," said
Wathen. "Now they are aware and that has
generated more concern."
While crossing North Carolina by rail, the
~>ds wi!J br -jiKf-r DOE _ trvnerahip. Uod&i
the Price-Anderson Act. any incident that
might occur would have $7.2 billion in lia
bility coverage provided through an nuclear
industry-funded insurance pool.
In accepting the rods, the United States is
attempting to honor anil reactivate a policy
commitment made several decades as part of
a international effort to keep weapons-grade
uranium off the world market. As part of the
same agreement, the U.S. has also helped
the reactor operators convert to using a low
er-enriched uranium fuel.
Some of the research reactors that re
ceived the tuel trom the United States have
run out of on-site storage space, prompting
the U.S. to initiate an "urgent relief* effort
that would bring about 389 rods into this
country before a decision was made regard
ing the potential environmental impact of
future shipments.
South Carolina is suing to block shipment
of rods under the "urgent relief" plan, saying
no shipments should be made until a thor
ough environmental study is made. The
DOE has finished a less complex environ
mental study, which says its Savannah River
Site near Aiken, S.C., is adequate to receive
the rods for storage.
Last week the appeals court said South
Carolina failed to show that its concerns
about threats to the environment outweighed
the United State's foreign policy interests in
acccpting return of the spent fuel.
STAf * PHOTO IT EMC CMUON
LISTENING to Superior Court Judge Jack Thompson are the defendant and attorneys in the first-de
gree murder trial of Frank Ford. Pictured (from left) are Assistant District Attorneys Lee Bollinger
and Rick Green, Defense Attorney James Payne , Frank Ford and Defense Attorney Michael Ramos.
Island Said To Qualify As Coastal Complex
Natural Area, But May Not Become One
(Continued From Page 1-A)
species; good habitat for other
species; and aesthetic quality.
The island's "degree of unique
ness" is a question for discussion,
according to agency Executive
Director Roger Schecter.
At the CRC's July meeting, mem
bers overrode a staff position that
existing protections for the island
were adequate, short of acquisition
to preserve the island, and directed
staff to proceed with a detailed re
view based on an inventory of the
island's natural resources and to
draft proposed use standards. Six
AECs are already in place at Bird
Island, generally protecting property
and lives rather than plants and ani
mals and their habitat, or the island's
natural beauty.
AT OAK ISLAND
BRING HOME
THEttfACON
On Sale At
EXPRESS STOP
MIDWAY TRADING POST
Price's consulting engineer, John
Ryder of Century/von Oesen of
Wilmington objected to the seventh
AEC as "grossly redundant" given
existing federal, state and local regu
lation of the island.
The commission has said it want
ed to be ready to act if it feels exist
ing state and local protective mea
sures are inadequate, or if those reg
ulations change.
Sunset Beach, after I 'A years of
study, established a conservation re
serve zoning district a year ago that
the portion of Bird Island within its
jurisdiction. The zoning limits de
velopment to one single-family
home per acre of "net buildable
area," which would allow about 31
homes to be constructed on the is
land. Ryder said those would be val
ued in the $1 million to $2.5 million
range.
At a workshop last Thursday,
Sunset Beach's town council and
planning board were considering a
request from Pricc to ease the zon
ing restrictions to allow at least 50
homes to be built.
The balance of the North Carolina
property falls under Bninswick
County's jurisdiction and is zoned
rural (RU). which nfifarc very few
restrictions on us. The western tip of
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the island complex juts into Horry
County, S.C.
From a planning standpoint,
Brunswick County Planning Dir
ector Wade Home said after the
CRC meeting. Bird Island "is just
another barrier island." But from an
aesthetic point of view he believes it
is unique as an undeveloped barrier
island and should be preserved
through public acquisition.
While Home is conccmed about
what a seventh AEC overlay might
accomplish, he said he plans to rec
ommend that, if use standards are
set, the state consider the need to
regulate boats and day visitors to the
island.
Average Temps,
Rainfall Expected
Look for warm days and good
sleeping weather at night for the
next few days, says Jackson Canady,
Shallotte Point weather- watcher.
For the period Sept. 20-26,
Canady reports a high of 86 degrees,
reached on the 25th, and a low of S3
degrees on the night of the 23rd. The
daily average high was 80, with a
nightly 2V?r?g? low nf to make
an average temperature of 71 de
grees, "just about normal" for the
period.
Canady measured 1.4 inches of
rainfall.
His forecast calls for average tem
peratures and rainfall, with temps in
the lower 60s at night and lower 80s
during the days, with about half an
inch of rainfall.
THE HUNSWKKAKACON
Established Nov. 1, 1962
Telephone 754-6890
Published Every Thursday
At 4709 Main Street
Shallotte, N.C 28459
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Plea Bargain Gets Defendant
Ford Life Sentence Plus 20 Years
(Continued From Page 1- V,
others who were at the trailer park
piled into two cars and headed for
Brown's home, where Ford said he
was "going to smoke a white dude "
Davis was black, as is Ford and
eight of his nine accomplices.
As the two cars drove up Midway
Road toward Brown's home, thev
spotted Davis awning the other way.
The "gang of 10" turned around and
followed Davis for about a half mile
to his trailer. Bollinger said
Davis had just pulled ;nto his dri
veway when Ford. Byron Henry
Knowles and Terrancc Laquinn
Jones approached the car and began
"roughing him up." Bollinger said
As they dragged Davis out. he broke
free and ran toward his fronl door
Ford fued a .38(>-calibcr pistol once
and missed. Davis made it another
15 to 20 feet when he was hit in the
back with the second bullet.
As Davis lay mortally wounded
on the ground. Knowles began
"chopping him with a machete"
while Jones "banged his head into
the dirt." according to Bollinger
After the killing. Knowles fled to
the Bahamas, where his father lives
He has been indicted on numerous
charges including first-degree mur
der Prosecutor* have been negotiat
ing with his attorney in hopes of en
couraging Knowles to return to the
United States voluntarily, but with
out success, Bollinger said. He ex
pects to begin extradition proceed
ings soon
Jones remains in jail on charges
that include first-degree murder,
conspiracy and kidnapping A trial
date in his case has not been set.
The seven other defendants, most
ly teenagers, had "varying levels of
involvement" in the killing. Bollin
ger said All have pleaded no contest
to a conspiracy charged in exchange
for their agreement to testify against
the others.
In negotiating their plea arrange
ments. Bollinger said aM of them
"knew the purpose" of leaving the
trailer park with Ford. But several
claimed to have tried to get away
when they realized the seriousness
of what was about to happen
Bollinger said he asked each one
what they learned from their experi
ence
"The all told me something to the
effect that they had learned to be
more careful about being in a place
where trouble was brewing."
Bollinger said "That if you're going
to hang around trouble, eventually
it's going lo find you."
Overturn
County's Anti-Mining Law
(('iintinueH From Pao# I.Ai
!?2?th, 5Sf?!y ?nd (vwnn?ncntiAn
(Continued From Pip 1-A)
the expertise of people who had adopted similar ordi
nances and were able to defend them in court. We got
the advice of counsel and enacted an ordinance to pro
tect the environmental situation down
there."
According to state statute, commis
sioners have the authority to enact
laws to protect the health, safety and
welfare of its citizcns, he said. "That's
the meat of it."
The ordinance doesn't prevent
Martin Marietta from mining its prop
erty, but prohibits certain kinds of
mining and allows others. "They can
mine if they want to," he said. "It just
may not be a profitable as they would
like it to be.
"I don't sec how we've caused
them any harm if they haven't gotten
any permits from the state to mine."
Quinn said Brunswick County
modeled its ordinance after language
used in an ordinance that stood up to a
challenge in the U.S. Supreme Court.
A North Carolina county changed its zoning, forcing
closure of an existing mine. According to Quinn, the
court ruled that there is no contract between individu
als and a county or municipality that prohibits a
change in zoning to protect the "health
welfare" of the public.
In the suit Martin Marietta claims it first made
county commissioners aware of its plans to establish
the quarry and the methods it would use as early as
July 1991. Company personnel met privately with in
dividual commissioners, took Brunswick County
Economic Development Commission members on
tours of its quarries at Rocky Point and Castle Hayne
and updated county officials on its plans periodically
over several years.
At the time of initial contact, the county had no zon
ing ordinance, only a land use plan that would allow
mining on the tract in question. As the county pro
posed and then drafted a zoning ordinance, the suit
states that the county was not only "aware of Martin
Marietta's plans" to develop the property as a quarry,
but that the County Planner (then John Harvey) gave
Martin Marietta assurances" that, under the pending
zoning ordinance, the property would be zoned "heavy
manufacturing" and that mining and quarrying woutf
be allowed without need of a special use permit. That
was the way the property was zoned.
Martin Marietta proceeded, on the basis of its con
tacts with the county, to continue purchasing and leas
ing property along N.C. 133/N.C. 87 between CP&L's
Brunswick Nuclear Plant and the Sunny Point Military
Ocean Terminal until by mid- 1993 it owned 1,247
acres with an option on another 107.4 acres. It also
hired a series of consultants, obtained county septic
tank and building permit, and began applying for a
state mining permit.
Opposition to the project began emerging publicly
in October 1993, after Martin Marietta held a press
conference and a private meeting with neighboring
property owners.
Maf in Marietta contends its common law and statu
tory rights were violated by the county and that the
"If they thought
for a minute that
there was a
chance of them
getting a permit ,
they'd be sitting
back on their
rocking chairs
waiting. "
? Bob Quinn
count) failed to give proper published public notice or
noticc to Martin Marietta in advancc of the two meet
ings at which the ordinance was considered (Dec. 29
and Jan. 4). and that Commissioners Don Warren.
Way land Vereen and Tom R?bon
knew the ordinance was unlawful and
that it violated Martin Marietta's
rights when they voted to adopt it.
Commissioners Donald Shaw and
Jerry Jones, who were members of the
previous board that had earlier contact
with Martin Marietta, did not vote for
the ordinance
If motions for a declaratory judg
ment or injunction fail, the suit specif
ically asks the court to:
-find that the county pre-empted
state and federal laws in attempting to
regulate areas of extraction of miner
als by mining and safety conditions
related to the production of nuclear
energy, areas already regulated by
state and federal law respectively;
? find the ordinance singled out
Martin Marietta for "disparate treat
ment" and "disproportionate burdens" the company;
? determine that the county's action in effect was a
"taking" of private property for public use without go
ing through the proper procedures and without just
? then force Brunswick County to exercise its pow
er of eminent domain or "taking" and pay for the prop
erty; and
? award damages and for the county to pay the
costs of the legal action.
In response to concerns raised primarily by the
Brunswick County Mining Awareness Committee, a
citizens' group organized to block the quarry from the
area, commissioners adopted the ordinancing banning
this type of mining as "detrimental to the health, safety
and general welfare of Brunswick County citizens."
The ordinance states that such mining could cause
structural damage to the facilities or railways of the
nuclear plant or military terminal; disturbance of the
geological formations could cause sinkholes that in
turn could result in damage; and could result in saltwa
ter intrusion of the Castle Hayne aquifer.
Martin Marietta claims in the suit that the ordinance
was adopted though there was "no competent, material
evidence before county commissioners to support
that." Rather, it claims on "information and belief' that
opposition to the project among commissioners was
"prompted solely by the unfounded and unsubstantiat
ed fears of local citizens that the project might be dan
gerous to the public."
Warren said he agreed to support the ordinance after
CP&L advised that sink holes caused by dewatering
could endanger power lines that provide emergency
power to pumps that cool the plant's two reactors, and
after the military terminal said tremors caused by
blasting could endanger munitions shipments hauled
on its railroad tracks.
"That was the final blow," he said, considering the
"multi-million-dollar ramifications."
"That's what made up my mind. 1 don't think we
could afford to do anything at that end of the county
that could cause that nuclear plant to shut down."