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County Health Officials Say They 'Misinterpreted' Septic Tank Law
HY KAHN ADAMS
The Brunswick County Henlth Department last
month bewail enforcing a five-year-old state health
regulation involving septic systems, after the depart
ment was notified tliat it was misinterpreting the law.
1 he regulation prohibits the coiustruction of septic
systems under driveways—a situation that imiy be dif
ficult to avoid on small lots, say county and town of
ficials.
Brunswick County Environmental Health Super-
vi.sor .John Crowder sail! the health department chang
ed iLs position on the regulation Nov. 18, after the N.C.
Division of Health Setw’ices clarified its official inter
pretation of the regulation.
The law reads, in part: "Septic tank sy.stems .shall
not be located under paved areas or driveways."
However, solid cast iron pipe or other .sewer pipe
can be used to convey effluent under the driveway or
paved area to another location on the lot. Crowder .said.
“The actual drainage field or septic tank system
can’t be located under the driveway," he explained.
The regulation, which has l>een in effect since 1982,
refers to driveways of all types and surfaces, Crowder
said. He noted that the county had misinterpreted the
law by assuming it referred only to paved driveways.
"We were thinking, by ilriveway.’ they were mean
ing a paved driveway." Crowder said.
Septic systems aren’t permitted under
driveways—paved or not—due to the "compaction of
the soil and possible damage to the system iUself,"
Crowder said. "Ihe weight could cause (the septic
system) to fail."
After receiving notification from the state, Crowder
sent “informational memos" on the regulation to town
administrators and town building inspectors
throughout the county, he said.
He .s;ud the county’s new enforcement position does
not affect lots where septic tank permits have alreadv
been issued.
"If it’s already been done . . . according to the
health director, we will leave those situations alone.
iinle.ss it’s determined that there’s some type of pro
blem," (Towder said.
But to obtain a pennit now. builders may lie re
quired to supply "plot plans." to show how the lot will
l)c developed, he said.
" 1 here have lieen some problems with finding
space . . . where lots are real small." Crowder .said.
"Builders may fuive to cut back to smaller driveways
and have more green area."
Holden Beach Building Inspector Dwight Carroll
.said the regulation would have an impact on mainly
canal lots at Holden Beach, except that no septic tank
permits have been i.ssiied for canal lots there in the jiast
few' montlcs due to other state health .standards.
"On a 30 by 100 foot lot, I don’t see how you’re going
to get a driveway, septic t;ink and water system in a 50
by 25 foot area, ” Carroll said, referring to the size of
most front yards on canal lots at Holden Beach.
Various setback requirements further decrea.se the
amount of s|)ace available for a septic lank, he said.
.Sunset Beach Town Administrator I.inda Klucgel
last week said she doesn t anticipate any problems with
the regulation at Sunset Beach.
She .s;iid septic tanks now can lie placed on the
ocean side of oceanfronl lots at Sunset Beach, while sep
tic .sy.steins are located at the rear of most other lots
there.
She .said only one builder has applied for a septic
tank permit at Sunset Beach since the county changed
its position on the regulation last month.
Ihe builder had to tile a plot plan, and the permit
w:is approved, she .said.
I BF
H0A(a S' bon-.
cppiNGFOPT HI
■ S I •
Twenty-sixth Year, Nui.iuer o
SWIdCiRACON
BRUNSWICK BtAC.ON
Shallotte, North Carolina, Thursday, December 17. 1987
25c Per Copy
34 Pages Plus Inserts
OunnriQn With Fok© Bomb
Robs Calabash UCB Bank
L’CB .AKEA EXECUTIVE A1 I.aughinghnusc (right)
'allis with Brunswick Couiuy Sheriff John (’. Davis
(left) and Det. I.indsey Walton shortly after lawTiien ar-
SI Atf PMOlO BY »AMN ADAMS
rivi'il on Ihi' sri'ne of Tuesday's armed hank robbery in
Calabasli.
Whiteville Man Sentenced In
Cocaine Case; Prosecutors
Prepare To End 'Phase One'
BY KAHN ADA.MS
Law enforcement agencies in
North and South Carolina Tuesday
night remained on the lookout for an
armed suspect who earlier in the day
robbed the Calabash branch of
United Carolina Bank and left behind
what he said was a bomb.
Lawmen and onlookers waited
tensely for three hours Tuesday
afternoon until a Wilmington Police
Department explosives team deter-
tnined that the device left iaside the
bank was not an explosive.
According to UCB Area Executive
.M Uiughinghouse. none of the four
bank employees wa.s Icuined No
customers were uiside Uu- l>uuk al
the time of the robbery.
Iaughinghoii.se .saiil Tuesday after
noon that he did not know exactly
how much money wa.s Uiken. but that
it wa.s a "nominal amount."
The robbery is under investigation
by the FBI, since bank robbery is a
federal offense.
FBI Special .Agent Terry Peters of
Wilmington described the lone
suspect as a white male, approx-
inv .ely 50 years old, wearing a dark
leather jacket and dark ’Ben
Hogan" golf cap.
Peters indicated that a video
camera inside the bank might have
photographed the suspect.
•’If we do liave a picture, we will
make it available,” Peters said Fue.s-
day.
I aughinghouse said the suspect
■’evidently is not local" because the
bank employees did not recognize
him.
According to Peters, the roblx*ry
occurred around 12:20 p m. Tue.sday
at le UCB branch bank, wluch is
lo lied on Ivey High .Street.
Peters said the suspect :du>weit
employees a handgun and u.ihc.ited
that there was i bomb" before leav
ing with an "unknown" amount of
cash.
" The suspect wa.s la.st seen w alking
away from the bank toward the
waterfront," Peters said.
Inunediatcly after the robbery- was
reported, sheriff’s deputies and
policemen from surrounding
municipalities set up roadblocks on
highways leading out of Calabtish.
Peters said Tuesday night that
authorities also were investigating
the possibility that the suspect could
tiave left the area on foot or by boat.
.After arriving on the scene,
sheriff’s deputies closed Ivey High
Street to traffic, while local, state
and federal investigators waited for
the explosives team to arrive from
Wilmington.
UniLs from the Calabash Volunteer
Fire Department and Rescue Squad
were on standby at the scene.
No radio communications were
allowed within 50 yards of the bank
due to speculation that radio traffic
could possibly detonate the “bomb."
I’he explosives team arrived al the
bi-.iir’. .0 .,.uul'2: -.0 p.ir. jiut completed
'.1., .ork u'. ap()i-oxln»ately ai- Viijsir.
Pe!er.« .said the tc: n "made an e.x-
.-iniiiial.'on of the dc.-ice to make .sure
It w.'is not an e.xplosive."
He would nor de.scribc the device
it.self. although he confirmed that a
large manila envelope was "part of it
(the fake bomb)"
•According to I,aughinghouse. two
attempted robberies have occurred
at the Calabash UCB branch over the
past several years, the first in Oc
tober 1981.
BY RAHN ADA.MS
A Whiteville man—one of 37 people
indicted in Brunswick County on co
caine charges in June and
July—received a .split sentence la.st
week after pleading guilty in August.
Meanwhile, the 13lh District At
torney’s office is preparing to com
plete the “first phase” in its in
vestigation of major drug trafficking
in Brunswick County, by hopefully
prosecuting the last of those 37 cases
by mid-February, according to
Special Assistant District Attorney
Bill Wolak.
I^st Wednesday in Whiteville,
William Irvin Peal IV, 24, received a
1‘2-ycar prison sentence, with six
months active and 11'2 years
suspended, Wolak said. Peal also vsas
sentenced to five years of probation
and a $1,000 fine.
Judge Napoleon Barefoot Sr. hand
ed down the sentence following a
45-minute sentencing hearing in Col
umbus County Superior (’ourt, Wolak
said.
On .Augu.st 31, Peal pleaded guilty,
as indicted, to conspiracy to traffic in
cocaine and trafficking by po.ssession
of cocaine, with both charges involv
ing more than 400 grams of the con
trolled substance.
His .sentencing was continued from
the Nov. Ifi term of Brunswick l^oun-
ty Superior Court until the next
available se.s.sion of Superior Court in
the 13th Di.stricl, w hich wa.s la.st week
in Whiteville.
According to Wolak, I’eal faced a
maximum sentence of 80 years in
pri.soii, and a mandatory minimum
.sentence of 70 years and a $500,000
fine.
However, Barefoot reduced Peal’s
.sentence last week after finding that
the defendant had provided subsUin-
tial a.ssistance to tlie state in its drug
investigations. Wolak said.
Peal was one of six persons who
were Indicted .Inly 20 as a result of
work by a .s|K‘cial investigative grand
jury 111 Bruiiswiek County Uu- first
to be used in the state.
That grand jury indicted 33 persons
in June, following approximately
four months of investigation.
Indictments were handed doivn in
both June and July for two of the
defendants.
Court records show that all but five
of the 37 defendants fiave entered
guilty pleas. Some 17 defendants who
pleaded guilty are awaiting sentenc
ing.
According to the Brunswick County
Clerk of Court’s office, three defen
dants—Folios KamLsiklis of Green
ville, Dale Varnam of Supply and
Richard Woods of Calabash—are
awaiting trial.
Sheriff John C. Davis said two
defendants—Alan Dale Brooks of
Shallotte and Francisco Navarro of
Fort Myers, Fla.—remain fugitives.
A special term of Brunswick Coun
ty Superior Court is scheduled to
begin Jan. 11, with the next regular
.session set for Feb. 8.
"I have about half (of the defen
dants) scheduled for sentencing on
the lllh of January, and the bulk of
the remainder on Feb. 8th," Wolak
said. "That will dispose of this first
pliase .. .’’
When asked to explain his
reference to a "fir.st phase," Wolak
said, "It means the investigation (in
to major drug trafficking) will con
tinue . . The public can rightly
assume there will be a phase two.
three and four, as long as the in
vestigation continues.
• They (the initial drug cases) luivc
turned out very well so far," he said.
".Something the public should know is
that by using the (special in
vestigative) grand jury process,
there was no money expended for
undercover buys, so there wa.s ac
tually a savings."
Wolak said an undercover opera
tion resulting in the indictments of 37
suspects would have required an
“astronomical" amount of funds for
undercover drug buys.
He pointed out that many of the
defendants were charged with traf
ficking in kilogram (2.2 pounds)
quantities of cocaine, which has a
.street value of $1,600 to $2,500 per
ounce.
An investigative grand jury "can
achieve better and much broader
results" since it can compel
testimony, he said.
State And Local Health Officials
Study Well Contamination Near Ash
BY DOUG RUTTER
The suspicions of some Ash
residents who started complaining
about the strange smell of their well
water in .August were confirmed last
month by state and local health agen
cies.
According to Bob Janueson, Wilm
ington regional manager for the .N.C.
Department of Natural Resources
and Community Development, at
least one well in the community is
contaminated with gasoline a
several others are being
vestigated.
Ideath .Marie Rowe, who first
formed the Brunswick County Health
Department of the strange smell of
her water four months ago, was in
formed in mid-November that
well was contaminated.
Jamieson said the presence
gasoline was confirmed by the health
department following luboratori
nd
in-
in-
her
of
analysLs of water samples taken Nov
3.
He .siiid that additional wells in the
area investigated this week by Carol
.Miller of the N.C. Division of En
vironmental .Management were
found not lo be contaminated.
■’There was no indication of
petroleum conUnmination,” he said.
■She feels satisfied that it affected
just this one well."
(See .ASH. Page 2-.A)
Yulefide Celebrated In Calabash
o*.i PMOIOB.
A Christmas flotilla on Ihe Calabash River capped off an afleriioiiii of RmhI,
games and entertainment during Sunday’s Feed the Hungry Children
I'estival in Calabash. Above, Jolly Old St. Nick waves to feslivnI-giK'rs from
the deck of his "sleigh," which was sponsored by the Calahnsh VFW Pnsl.
Yim’ll find the story and more plioio coverage of the festival on Page 1-B.