f
April 6, 1994
Neighbors
The Robert Ruark Chili
Cookoff was held Saturday
in Franklin Square Park
Our Town
Caswell Beach will decide
whether five heads are better
than three on the town board
Sports
North Brunswick will play
tonight for the Seashell
tournament championship
Hazardous cargo passes often
Fuel shipment is nothing new
By Terry Pope
County Editor
U. S. Department of Energy officials knew the message
they'd hear from residents before arriving in Brunswick
County last week.
It's the same wherever they travel - the United States
should accept bomb-grade nuclear fuel elements from for
eign countries to make the world safer from terrorists, only
don't ship it through our neighborhoods while en route to a
storage site at Aiken, S. C.
DOE experts figured it was worth a shot anyway, and they
tried to soothe fears residents may have about possible
shipments through Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point
north of Southport.
A decision on which of five East Coast ports to use will
come in mid-April, but officials are studying Sunny Point
closely because it's a low-density community and offers
military protection. It's the nation's largest ammunitions
depot operated by the Department of Defense.
"I live beside Sunny Point," said Suzanne Osborne of
Bethel Church Road. "I don't know if I look dense, but I live
beside Sunny Point."
Her fears are shared by others who wonder if the county
can respond to highway accidents involving nuclear cargo.
They fear a mix of tourist traffic with truck convoys. DOE
also will study possible railroad shipments out of Sunny
Point, like the fuel transports to Carolina Power and Light
Co.'s Brunswick nuclear plant that already pass homes on
Bethel Church Road.
"I’m not worried about what goes through my backyard,"
said Ms. Osborne, "but I’d be worried about what goes
through that intersection at Highway 87 and 133."
The first shipment may arrive before fall, a total of 15
steel casks carefully packed with 450 highly enriched
uranium-235 rods from European research reactors. Why
has the United States agreed to accept radioactive garbage
from the world's 135 reactors?
An American deal reached in 1978 began the program
which hit a snag in 1988 when the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit
to block further shipments from Taiwan. The plan replaces
93-percent uranium grade fuel rods with a 20-percent grade
fuel which cannot be converted to nuclear weapons. In
exchange, the U. S. will accept up to 15,000 rods over the
next ten to 15 years and store them in holding pools at
DOE's Savannah River site at Aiken and at other facilities
for the next 30 years. Fuel is now stockpiled in other
countries.
"Their pools are filling up, and they will eventually have
to shut down," said David Huizenga, deputy assistant
See Shipment, page 10
ill
• 1.5001b. Elements (each)
•30 lbs. Uranium in each
• 10 lbs. Plutonium in each
•Casks weigh 40-50 tons
•12 ft. Elements In length
• 10 lb. Elements (each)
•2 lbs. Uranium in each
• 1 oz. Plutonium in each
•Casks weigh 10-25 tons
•3 ft. Elements in length
Southport
to observe
war years
A two-day celebration of the role South
port played in World War n will be held
this week.
The program Saturday and Sunday is
part of a national commemoration of the
50th anniversary of the war. Activities
will be held at the Southport Community
Building, which was opened in 1942 for
the USO.
For the celebration the building will
become the "Stage Door Canteen" and
will host the Sea Notes Choral Society's
spring concert. The performance will fea
ture World War II songs.
World War II memorabilia - pictures,
medals, letters, magazines, etc. -- will be
displayed, and World War II veterans
See War years, page 6
Forecast
The extended forecast calls for
morning showers on Thursday, then
clear skies and highs in the mid-60s.
Clear and cool weather is expected
Friday with highs again in the 60s,
then fair skieson Saturday with highs
reaching into the 70s. Lows each
day during the period will be in the
middle 40s.
The State Port Pilot
-irkPilnt Line
THE TALKING NEWSPAPER
Weather updates are available on
Pilot Line. Dial 457-5084, then ex
tension 191. Other Pilot Line ser
vices are listed on page 8.
Tide table
HIGH LOW
THURSDAY, APRIL 7
6:28 a.m. 12:07 a.m.
6:47 p.m. 12:58 p.m.
FRIDAY, APRIL 8
7:13 a.m. 12:55 a.m.
7:29 p.m. 1:11p.m.
SATURDAY, APRIL 9
SUNDAY, APRIL 10
MONDAY, APRIL 11
1:38 a.m.
1:50 p.m.
2:19 a.m.'
2:28 p.m.
2:58 a.m.
3:05 p.m.
7:53 a.m.
8:08 p.m.
8:32 a.m.
8:45 p.m.
9:07 a.m.
9:20 p.m.
TUESDAY, APRIL 12
9:42 a.m. 3:36 a.m.
9:54 p.m. 3:41 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13
10:14 a.m. 4:13 a.m.
10:27 p.m. 4:17 p.m.
The following adjustments should be made:
Bald Head Island, high -10, low -7; Caswell
Beach, high -5, low -1; Southport, high +7,
low +15; Yaupon Beach, high -32, low -45;
Lockwood Folly Inlet, high -22, low -8.
On April Fool’s Day a great big colored balloon came down in
Southport’s Waterfront Park where Miss Jordan and Miss
Martin’s first grade students were playing and tried to eat
Photo by Jim Harper
everybody up but it had to spit the teachers out because they
were too tough. No foolin’.
Gypsy moth
spray could
start Friday
By Terry Pope
County Editor
Spraying will likely begin at dawn Friday to
combat a local invasion of the gypsy moth.
But it may be next week before the planes
target the Southport-Oak Island community.
The N. C. Department of Agriculture will
start in the Ocean Isle Beach and Holden Beach
areas first. Experts believe moth eggs hatched
sooner in the southern part of the county.
"We've had a lot of questions," said Dan
Wall, spray project coordinator with the NCDA.
"I think we’ve been able to satisfy people's
questions. We want them to call in and ask."
Residents can call 1-800-449-9007 to get a
daily update on where the planes are expected
to fly. Poor weather conditions will dictate
See Moths, page 9
‘The products have an
excellent safety record.
We’ve never had a
problem with any of
them.’
Dan Wall
Project coordinator
Yelton's wife was killed
Manager hospitalized;
Warren assumes duties
By Terry Pope
County Editor
The chairman of the Brunswick County
Board of Commissioners says he will turn to
the Cape Fear Council of Governments for
advice on how to temporarily fill the county
manager's position.
County employees who arrived at work
Monday learned of the tragedy that left many
stunned and also forced commissioners to re
cess their meeting until next week.
County manager Wyman Yelton, of South
port, was seriously injured in a head-on colli
sion on Interstate 40 near Durham Sunday
afternoon, but the accident also left his wife
dead.
County commissioners appointed their chair
man, Don Warren, as acting county manager
during a brief meeting Monday. The board
may name a temporary person to guide the
county through the difficult budget prepara
tion.
"Everybody is still in shock," said Joyce
Johnson, interim clerk to the board of commis
We’re going to check
on the rehabilitation
situation with Mr,
Yelton. We may appoint
someone, we may not. It
just depends on what we
have.*
Don Warren
sioners. "We've had a lot of calls today from
people who want to know what they can do to
help. All we can do is pray and hope for the
best."
Kathryn Shirley Yelton, 52, was driving the
couple's 1984 Mercedes when another car
See Warren, page 11
Horne will head
county planning
By Terry Pope
County Editor
Some asked what happened. but a
series of unexpected events in the
Brunswick County Planning De
partment is what changed Wade
Home's plans to become Long
Beach's new town manager.
County officialsconvinced Home
to stay in county government, one
week after he resigned as zoning
administrator to begin work with
the town.
The employee that county man
ager Wyman Yelton labels a "good
leader for the planning functions”
of Brunswick County instead be
gan work Monday as the new direc
tor of planning, replacing 13-year
See HorneTpage 7
Long Beach
still looking
for manager
By Holly Edwards »
Municipal Editor
Hopeful expectancy turned to frus
tration and disappointment for Long
Beach town officials last week when
the man tfjey recently hired as town
manager announced he would not be
coming to Long Beach after all.
Brunswick County zoning adminis
See Manager, page 7
«i
location 994 advertising isFriday; call 457-4568 to reserve your space.