THE CHOWAN HERALD
. Published In The Most Beautiful Little City On The North Carolina Coast
Volume LVI - No. 31
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, August 2,1990
Single Copies 25 Cents
I Bad News In
Double Dose
Fortunately nobody lined
up to shoot the bearer of bad
news last week when the
Chowan Herald carried twc
stories nobody along The
Public Parade enjoyed read
ing. One told of plans to close
• the Bayliner boat plant and
the other added another chap
ter in the long record of pollu
tion of the Chowan river.
U.S. Marine, parent com
pany of Bayliner, one ol
Chowan's major industries
revealed in a press release
that the boat manufacturing
p, facility would close perma
nently on September 10. It is
always bad news when a good
pay roll is lost in a small
community, due to no fault ol
its own.
But this is not the first time
Edenton has suffered an in
, dustrial setback, nor will it be
' _ the last. We are confident the
community will bounce back
< that good people such as the
Bayliner workers will not be
left without a job for long.
Bad as the Bayliner clos
ing will prove to be, word thal
the Chowan river's high level
of dioxin is worse. Little
comfort can be taken from the
• fact that both the Trent anc
Neuse are also affected. State
environmental authorities
say the hazard to health is
such that warning signs maj
have to be posted and the
Chowan closed to fishing foi
catfish and other bottom feed
ers.
<• This is a problem that has
been developing for more thar
a decade, beginning with al
gae blooms and building to the
present situation. The algae
problem was attributed to nu
trient-rich agricultural run
offs, aided by waste from a
fertilizer manufacturing
• plant located upstream.
But the source of the current
burden of dioxin was not re
vealed in news accounts fur
nished Chowan residents on
Continued On Page I
Clark Purchases Flying Service
♦
First you hear the sound of
the engine as it grows louder
and then the single-seat plane
appears low over the trees,
crosses power lines, dives to
ward the ground and levels
^ off over a cotton crop with its
^ spray nozzles open, dealing
death to insect pests.
This is the crop duster or,
as some prefer, "aerial appli
cator” of pesticides, herbi
cides, fertilizers and even
seed.
Even though there are sev
f eral flying services in the
area that provide agricultural
spraying and dusting, a 1972
silver Cessna "Ag-Wagon,"
with Mike Clark at the con
trols, is likely the one you will
see in Chowan County.
Electrical
Interruption
Some town residents and
businesses were without
electricity for a short time
Tuesday afternoon due to an
electrical fire in a junction
box on Water Street next to
Edenton Office Supply.
Power was disrupted in a
several block area surroun
ding the junction box from
'4:40 p.m. to 6:34 p.m.
The Edenton Fire Dept,
extinguished the blaze after
the cover was removed by
Utilitili personnel. It took
Utilities workers less than
two hours to replace electri
cal connectors and restore
power.
t—. mi' .-■-■-i i....,,.,'.
Clark purchased the Whit
field Flying Service, based in
Rocky Hock, in mid-June.
The former owner, Fred
Whitfield of Roanoke Rapids,
operated the business for sev
en years. Clark joined the
company in its second year as
the primary pilot.
The plane is operated froir
a landing strip located or
Rocky Hock Road near th<
entrance to Arrowhead Beach
Continued On Page I
PULLOUT-A Cessna Ag-Wagon pulls out after a spraying
run with insecticide over a cotton field just ofFof U.S. IT North
The plane is piloted by Mike Clark.
Paper Mills Pointed To As Source Of Dioxin
By JACK GROVE
Interviews with industry
and state officials point a fin
ger at the pulp mill industry
as the source of dioxin in the
Chowan River.
Joe Stutts, spokesman for
Union Camp, a paper com
pany with a mill on the Black
water River at Franklin, Va.,
acknowledged that the chlo
rine bleaching process used
by his company, produces di
oxin as a by-product in the ef
fluent released from the plant
into the Blackwater which
empties into the Chowan.
He said that Union Camp
has developed an exclusive
process to replace chlorine
bleaching which will elimi
nate dioxin dumping and will
also reduce water use in the
process by as much as 70 per
cent. •
The new process, which
uses oxygen and ozone, will
replace three of four chlorine
lines. He said the fourth will
process only hardwoods and
the dioxin discharge will only
be 1.2 parts per quadrillion in
that line.
The ozone bleaching pro
cess is expected to be in opera
tion by 1992. It will cost Union
Camp $158 million, Stutts
said.
He noted that his company
has been taking fish samples
from waters from Franklin to
the Chowan River Bridge
since last summer. Catfish
from eight selected spots are
caught, filets ground up and
frozen and sent to two labs,
one in California and one at
Research Triangle Park.
There they are tested for diox
in.
Stutts noted, "We're not re
quired to do this testing. It's
strictly voluntary." He said
that reports are sent to Virgin
ia state officials with a "cour
tesy copy" to North Carolina.
He noted that figures used
in recent press articles coin
cided exactly with figures pro
vided to this state. One sample
taken at the Chowan River
Bridge at Edenton showed 57.5
parts per trillion of dioxin, far
above the percentage that a
state study said could be safe
ly ingested by humans on a
regular basis.
Stutts said that his com
pany had spent "hundreds of
thousands of dollars" on their
voluntary testing program.
He said that it was premature
to sound warnings about eat
ing fish since there were "sta
tistical problems" in that not
enough samples had yet been
analyzed to produce reliable
health forecasts.
While the State of North
Carolina is also conducting
some testing, "It appears that
Toxin rroDiem Discussed
Town and county officials
traveled to Raleigh on July 19
to meet with state officials af
ter press reports that dioxin,
believed to be a carcinogen,
was building up to dangerous
levels in fish, especially cat
fish and other bottom feeding
fish, in the Chowan River.
The reports indicated that the
state might post warning
signs on the suspected hazard
or even post signs prohibiting
fishing.
Among the local officials
attending the meeting were
Town Manager Anne-Marie
Kelly, Mayor John Dowd,
County Manager Cliff. Cope
land and Chamber of Com
merce Executive Director
Richard Bunch. Commercial
fishing interests were repre
sented by J.D. Peele and
Ricky Nixon. State Rep. R.M.
(Pete) Thomson of Chowan
also attended.
i Fourteen state officials who
were there included, Sec,
William Cobey of the Dept, oi
Environment, Health and
Natural Resources, William
Hogarth, Director of Marine
Fisheries and George Everett,
Director of the Division oi
Environmental Management
(DEM).
Ms. Kelly said last week
"The main purpose was tc
find out exactly what was go
ing to happen." She said thai
the DEM had determined thai
federal guidelines for risk
assessments of dioxin con
tamination of fish were nol
satisfactory.
The federal guidelines saj
that warnings should be is
sued if dioxin levels are from
between 25 and 50 parts per
trillion. A state study recom
mended that the warnings
should be issued when levels
are from three to 30 parts per
trillion. Levels above 30
would call for health adviso
ries against consumption of
the fish.
The local contingent was
told that studies were incom
plete and that more data
needed be obtained, requiring
more testing of fish samples.
"They (state officials) rec
ognized the problem that had
been created by the (statewide)
publicity" from the study,
produced by state toxicologist
Dr. Ken Rudo. The publicity
was attributed to "a tenacious
reporter" and was first pub
lished in a Winston-Salem
newspaper and picked up and
distributed by the Associated
_J?reas„.-.,...........__
Ms. Kelly said that the lo
cal delegation was promised
prior notification of addition
al information or further ac
tions by the state in the future.
She said that Mayor Dowd had
emphasized "that we want to
be part of the dialogue."
The local fishermen "gave
very persuasive statements
about the impact on their live
lihoods," the town manager
reported. Ricky Nixon of
Murray L. Nixon Fishery,
she said, told the state offi
Continued On Page 8
Double Taxation Topic Of Joint Meeting
( In what may have been the
first-ever official meeting of
the two boards, Edenton Town
I Council met jointly with the
Chowan Board of County
Commissioners at the Swain
Senior Center Tuesday even
| ing. The only topic for the ses
sion was town-county agree
ments on joint funding of pro
jects.
After County Manager
Cliff Copeland and Town
Manager Anne-Marie Kelly
gave summaries of their bud
gets, Mayor John Dowd
launched into a presentation,
using a flip chart, on "the con
cept of double taxation."
Using bar graphs he point
ed to the recreation depart
ment and 911 emergency that
both political entities contri
bute to. Pointing out the town
| and county's share, he said
| that about 35 per cent of the
cited agencies' revenues
came from taxes of town citi
| zens paid as county taxes.
The recreation budget drew
immediate reaction from
f commissioners. Alton El
| more and Pete Dail indicated
that the county might not have
the greatest interest in that
funding. Commissioner Joe
Hollowell noted, "Our priori
ties are more necessity type
items" as opposed to "quality
of life items."
"That's, why we didn't
; come in demanding some
thing from you," Dowd re-?
plied. He explained that town
f
county mutual cooperation,
already established, was im
portant to the council.
"There must be some dis
satisfaction or we wouldn't
even be discussing it," Hol
lowell countered. Dowd told
him that the purpose was to
bring the subjects up and let
the commissioners go back
and talk about them.
"I don’t think anybody can
argue about double taxation,"
offered Dail.
In addition to 911 and rec
reation, Dowd laid the follow
ing subjects on the table:
• Fire Dept. - Dowd told
commissioners, "We're here
tonight to ask for your help in
capital outlay." He noted that
a very expensive fire truck
was needed, a truck that the
city is funding little by little
over several years. Elmore
acknowledged that the truck
was needed but that perhaps a
no-frills truck would reduce
the cost;
• Tax collections - (As a
cost-saving measure, the
county is now handling col
lections for the town.) Dowd
asked the county to re-evalu
ate the cost to the county for
collecting the town taxes. He
said that he believed that
county’s bill to the town of one
and a half per cent of collec
tions was to include start-up
costs associated with computer
software which is now paid
for;
The mayor asked the
commission board to "look
at" sharing ABC operation
revenues.
As the discussion between
the two boards progressed,
Councilman Willis Privott
suggested that the meeting r ot
adjourn before a future meet
ing date be set. Mayor Dowd
said that the established town
county committee, which
would consider the issues,
should set the time table.
Councilman Roy Harrell
prefaced his remarks by say
ing that he felt that he was
speaking for the council but
maybe not. Concerning the
issues on the table, "We’re not
talking about next year's
budget. We are expecting a fi
nalization" after the joint
committee does its work.
Dowd noted that the coun
cilman was certainly not
speaking for him. He said
that the joint meeting and the
town-county committee work
might be setting the ground
work for the next fiscal year's
budget for each board. "Any
unplanned for expenditure
upsets the (current) budget,"
he observed.
Turning to commission
ers, the mayor stated, "Rec
reation is a two-fold program.
I wish you'd look at it as not
just desirable." He noted that
the recreation program gave
an alternative to kids who
might otherwise turn to drugs.
The countv manager said
Continued On l’nge 8
we’re doing the bulk of the
sampling," Stutts said.
In response to a request
from The Chowan Herald, the
N.C. Division of Environ
mental Management's Public
Information Officer, Debbie
Crane, provided a copy of the
state's study.
In her cover letter, Ms.
Crane noted that the study's
Continued On Page 8
SHARPSHOOTERS -- Members of the John A Holmes High
School senior shooting team are shown prior to their departure to
Grenada, Mississippi, where they competed in a national meet.
They returned on July 28, bringing honor to their state and
school. Traveling in Carroll Byrum's Winnebago, (left to
right) Sammy Williams, Joey Byrum, Scott Waff, Joey Nixon,
Wynn VanDuyn, and Jeff Edwards made sure Edenton and
Chowan County were publicized from here to Mississippi. (Staff
photo by Marguerite McCall.)
Team Takes 2nd At
Nat'l Competition
TV,A T/vl>n A UaIt^ao
_
School senior shooting team
brought further honor to the
school during last week's
National Shooting Competi
tion in Grenada, Mississippi.
Regarding the five events
held, the team placed first in
archery, third in a written test
(a 100 question test counting
2.5 points per question), tied
for third in rifle, fourth in
shotgun (trap shooting), and
fourth in the hunter trail
course (a test for alertness on
wildlife, hunting, and track
ing).
"Each boy could score a
event," said Ray Smith, a
team coach. "There were 22
teams from six states, with
four on a team.
"Our team, which placed
second in the state competi
tion, represented North Car
olina. In the overall scoring,
Virginia came in first with
3977.5 points, North Carolina
placed second with 3627.5
points, and Mississippi fin
ished third with 3575 points.
Utah, Louisiana, and Penn
sylvania also competed."
Although the entire team
Continued Or Page 8