State Blames River
Pollution On Septic Tanks And Runoff
{ BY DOUG RUTTER
Septic tanks and stormwater runoff arc the most
probable sources of pollution in Lockwood Folly
River, says a state report on water quality.
A major finding of the report is that most soils in
the river basin have severe restrictions for septic tanks
either due to a high water table or poor filtering abili
ty
Cooperation among town, county and state offi
cials will be needed to clear bacteria from the sensi
tive river, according to the N.C. Division of Environ
mental Management (DEM) study released last week.
Since last August, approximately 600 acres in
Lockwood Folly have been closed to shellfishing
because of unsafe bacteria levels. The river historical
ly provides about 40 percent of Brunswick County's
oysters and clams. But pollution is now threatening
the resource-rich river and the livelihoods of dozens
of local fishermen.
Other possible sources of pollution listed in the
report are surface water discharges, animal waste, sed
iment and influx from the waterway. Each of those,
however, is discounted in the report as having a minor
impact on the river's growing battle with fecal col
iform bacteria. The presence of high levels of fecal
coliform prevent shellfish from being harvested.
DEM's study and report stem from a public meet
ing held in Octobcr 1988 at Bolivia. It was there that
local residents requested help from slate agencies in
determining sources of pollution in the river and
proposing solutions.
The meeting came just two months after the state
had closed about 153 acres of shellfishing waters in
the river because of high bacteria counts. Later in
1988, another 450 acres of oyster and clam beds were
closed to harvesting. At year's end a total of 1,17.1
acres, or 71 percent of the available shellfishing acres
in the river, had been shut down.
A preliminary version of the state report released
in March said septic tanks were the most likely source
of pollution. However, Environmental Management
officials are now saying they cannot determine
whether septic tanks or runoff is the more probable
source.
DEM spokesman Jim Sheppard said the final
draft incorporates the findings of another state agency.
Shellfish Sanitation, a branch of the N.C. Division of
Health Services, conducted a survey of septic tanks
along the Lockwood Folly River in January and con
cluded that stormwater runoff was the most likely
source of bacterial pollution.
"There's nothing that says both can't be con
tributing to the problem," Sheppard said Tuesday. "It's
another idea worth considering."
The Lockwood Folly River Basin, the focus of
the DEM study, covers 138 square miles with the
majority of the land classified forest or wetland.
Twelve percent of the basin is tied up in agricultural
uses and only two percent is urban.
(See STATE. Page 1-A)
_ ? ? _ _ HOAQ & SONS BOOK BINDERY _ iMgft
THE BL^.. K|| BEACON!
Twenty-seventh Year, Number 44 chwthebbuhsvwckbcacow Shallotte, North Carolina, Thursday, September 7, 1989 25c Per Copy 36 Pages. 3 Sections. Plus Inserts
STAFF PHOTO BY IAHN ADAMS
Thank You , Dragon Lady7
Three-year-oid John Sorreii of Charlotte iakn a toy from the
"Dragon Lady" a* Saturday morning's meeting of the Sunset Beach
Taxpayers Association. The boy attended the meeting with his grand
mother, Ann Sorrell of Sunset Beach.
Lawmen Find Marijuana In
Shallotte, Supply Areas
Local and state lawmen confis
cated 119 marijuana plants last
Thursday in an air search of the
Shallotte and Supply areas, accord
ing to Brunswick County Narcotics
Division Officer Mike Speck.
No charges had been filed as of
Tuesday in connection with the
seizures. However, Speck said
Tuesday that authorities were still
investigating two locations where
plants were found, and that arrests
were anticipated.
The search utilized an SBI spotter
plane and two ground crews com
posed of eight members of the
Brunswick County Sheriff's Depart
ment, Shallotte Police Department
and SBI.
The largest number of plants was
found in the Sunset Harbor area,
where 87 plants in seven patches
were seized. Speck said. Thirteen
plants in two patches were discov
ered in the Shell Point area.
Lawmen also confiscated 19 plants
off Stone Chimney Road and 14
plants off N.C. 130 about two miles
west of Shallotte.
The plants ranged in height from
three feel to 18 feet, with most of
them about 16 feet tall, Speck
reported. Street value of the mari
juana at maturity was estimated at
more than $190,400.
The officer noted that many of
the plants found last week were of
the "sensimilla" variety ? a seedless
type of marijuana that contains a
higher concentration of THC, the
active chemical in the controlled
substance.
Speck indicated that the discov
er/ of sensimilla plants was fairly
uncommon in Brunswick County
until this year.
AT SUNSET BEACH
7 Save Our Bridge ' Supporters May
Augment T-Shirts With Legal Briefs
BY RAHN ADAMS
With more than half of the crowd
sporting "Save Our Bridge" T
shirts, members of the Sunset Beach
Taxpayers Association made history
on several counts Saturday as they
stepped up their opposition to a pro
posed high-rise bridge at Sunset
Beach.
A record crowd of 250 members
and guests packed the Sunset Beach
Volunteer Fire Department Saturday
morning to attend the SBTA's first
rally. The two-hour event included
musical entertainment by the Vocal
Arts Quartet from the University of
North Carolina at Wilmington, a
costumed "Dragon Lady" mascot
who handed out toys to children, a
slide presentation on Sunset Beach
by SBTA President A1 Wells and a
talk by Duke University professor
and author Orrin Pilkey, one of the
country's leading marine geologists.
Those activities themselves were
firsts for the association, but the
real history-maker for the group
was its apparent decision to take
legal action against the State of
North Carolina, if nccessary, to
keep Sunset Beach's 28-year-old
pontoon swing bridge ? the last of
its kind on the East Coast ? from
being replaced by a modern high
rise fixed span similar to those at
Ocean Isle Beach and Holden
Beach.
"The time for talking is gone,"
SBTA official Warren "Bud" Knapp
told the Beacon after the rally. "The
time for action is here...Our only
alternative now is the courts to pro
tect our heritage." He also indicated
that if the SBTA takes any legal
action concerning the bridge, the
case probably will be handled in
federal court
Knapp's comments were based
on a favorable response to a pro
posed resolution recommended by
the association's board of directors
and read to the gathering for the
first time Saturday. However, under
its bylaws, the SBTA could not offi
cially vote on the resolution at the
meeting.
The board was scheduled to meet
Tuesday afternoon to prepare bal
lots that will be mailed to SBTA
members. A two-thirds majority of
the membership must approve the
resolution for it to be adopted.
The proposed resolution would
empower the board of directors "to
investigate other alternatives, to
require a thoughtful and construc
tive consideration of the need for a
high-rise bridge at Sunset Beach,
(with) such action including the
possibility of investigating and
engaging legal counsel to take such
legal actions as may be ultimately
approved by the membership of this
association..."
Near the close of the rally,
Knapp's request for the group to
voice its "verbal support" of the res
olution was answered with a re
sounding chorus of "yea!" Although
Knapp did not give opponents equal
opportunity to express their views,
no public comments were made in
support of a high-rise bridge at any
point during the meeting.
According to the N.C.
Department of Transportation, the
new bridge is now in the design
stage; last month the state Board of
Transportation awarded a $470,598
design contract to a Raleigh engi
neering firm. The state has received
all necessary permits for construc
tion and expects to receive bids on
the project in September 1990.
TTie proposed fixed span over the
Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway will
allow simultaneous boating and
vehicular traffic, which is not possi
ble now with the pontoon bridge.
The new bridge's estimated cost is
S6.9 million, with another SI mil
lion having been spent for right-of
way acquisition.
Plans call for the state to cover
20 percent of the bridge's cost; the
balance would come from a federal
fund for replacing bridges on the
federal aid system.
However, the SBTA contends
that the new bridge's price tag is too
high, both in terms of tax money
and in increased development that
the association feels will occur if
the bridge is built.
The SBTA is no stranger to the
courts. For the past several years, it
has been involved in a legal fight
with the local development firm,
Sunset Beach & Twin Lakes Inc.,
over ownership of "Lot 1-A," an
oceanfront lot at the intersection of
Sunset Boulevard and Main Street
After a September 1987 trial in
Brunswick County Superior Civil
Court, Judge Bruce Briggs of Madi
son County ruled in the SBTA's
favor and found that the lot is a
"Remember you can
only lose this battle
once. Once the bridge
is built, the battle is
lost."
Orrin Pilkey
Marine Geologist
public right-of-way for beach ac
cess. The case is under appeal and
is scheduled to be heard by the N.C.
Court of Appeals on Sept. 20 in
Raleigh.
Durham attorney Jim Maxwell,
who represents the SBTA in the Lot
1-A suit, spoke to the association
Saturday about the possible impli
cations of a high-rise bridge at
Sunset Beach and the span's rela
tion to Lot 1-A.
"I dare suggest that shortly after
the bridge would be constructed,
you will find a water and/or sewer
line being run over to the island,"
Maxwell said. "The major halt to
(commercial) development on this
island to date has been the lack
of...sewer, specifically.
"You need to know that in the
Lot 1-A fighL..if we are unsuccess
ful in that, (Lot 1-A and adjacent
property) is presently zoned com
mercial. Hotels, motels, restaurants,
shopping centers could, in fact, go
if sewer is there to support it and if
Lot 1-A is allowed to be converted
back into a buildable lot"
Maxwell also suggested the pos
sibility that a high-rise bridge and
the commercial development it
would foster might require addition
al parking facilities on the western
end of Sunset Beach and might
result in a bridge eventually being
built to Bird Island, a presently
undeveloped island immediately
west of Sunset Beach and privately
owned.
The attorney noted that his firm
has researched legal fights to stop
bridge construction projects in other
parts of the country. He added that
all of the lawsuits he reviewed
failed to keep bridges from being
builL However, he stated, "I am not
totally diminished nor restrained
from whatever legal action can be
taken, simply because it has not
ever been successful."
In his comments to the group,
Pilkcy observed that a high-rise
bridge would increase development
pressure at Sunset Beach. "Some
times its hard to sort out the differ
ent things that afTect development,
and development is increasing on
our barrier islands in any event,
with or without bridges," he said,
"but there's no question, in my
opinion, that building a better
bridge...will increase the density of
development and will begin to bring
in pressure for high-rises (build
ings) and so forth on this island."
Pilkey said his main concern with
high-density development is that an
on-going rise in the sea level ? esti
mated at one foot per century ? and
the resulting shoreline erosion even
tually will affect more property
owners than with low-density
development. Increased develop
ment also would damage the envi
ronment and diminish the natural
beauty of the island, he added.
"I would urge you to fight
'homogenization* ? cloning ? of our
islands," Pilkey said. "Don't accept
change as inevitable, and don't
accept change as progress... The
direction for the public good is
clear, and the direction for the pub
lic good is for keeping this bridge
as it is or at least not building a
major high-rise, concrete bridge
over to this island.
"Remember you can only lose
this battle once. Once this bridge is
built, the battle is 1osl..I think this
is great what you're trying to do. I
don't know whether you'll win the
battle, but I support you in this and
I urge you to stick by your guns and
define progress in your own way..."
County School
Officials Defend New
Communication Skills Program
BY DOUG RUTTER
Union Primary School teachers and parents clashed
with school system officials last week over a new com
munication skills program many feel is replacing a suc
cessful phonics- based approach to reading.
Teachers and parents packed the Union Primary
School cafeteria during iwo separate meetings last
Tuesday and Thursday. The meetings were called to
present an integrated communications program being
used countywide for the first time this year in kinder
garten through third grades.
Brunswick County Schools Superintendent John
Kauthold choired both meetings. Also attending were
William Harrison, associate superintendent for curricu
lum, and Diane Paquin, elementary supervisor.
Union Primary School reading teacher Doris
Wilson said there were "a lot of fireworks" Tuesday
night when teachers and parents questioned school sys
tem officials about the role phonics would play in the
new communications program.
Opening the meeting Thursday night, Kaufiiold said
he refused to debate about the ousted Spalding reading
method. That method uses phonics ? the study of
sounds that make up words ? to teach children to read.
"The time to debate the program is past," he sad.
MHHPP "It's
something that I
would put in if I
? ?? ? ,? ? ?
wi ? r jl ??a? * mm/c */
y ^ aS would work."
|| ?John Kaufhold
Schools Superintendent
"We arc going to use the new program, we are going to
evaluate the new program and we are going tn <\er\(\p if
the new program is successful."
Kaufhold urged parents to write him letters, call
him on the telephone or visit him in person at the cen
tral office in Southport if they wish to complain.
Tk one
iviuoi ui U 11/ paivilio aiiviiuuig toot a jvj
sion said their children have benefited from the phon
ics-based approach to reading. They pointed to better
scores on the California Achievement Test in reading,
language and math. Since 1987, the Spalding reading
method had been used in different areas of Brunswick
County, but most intensively at Union Primary School.
While many parents like the controversial phonics
based method, others attending last Thursday's meeting
said their children had difficulty learning that method.
They are willing to give the new program a try.
School system officials also said the achievement
test scores can be misleading because children may not
be comprehending what they are reading. "High scores
do not necessarily mean that our children are good
readers," noted Harrison.
He said phonics will be a part of the new communi
cations program. But he added that there will no longer
be an intense teaching of the Spalding reading method.
A draft of a school system handout on the new commu
nications program savs that focusing on phonics
instruction that stresses learning rules is an inappropri
ate practice.
A major key of the new program, said Harrison,
will be an ongoing assessment of students by teachers.
He said the achievement tests used in the past will no
longer be used to determine the progress of children.
Kaufhold said the new integrated communication
skills program was developed by teachers representing
each school, principals and school system staff. It was
approved by the Brunswick County Board of Education
in the spring.
He said the "literature-based approach to reading"
is already used in school systems in Charlotte, Raleigh
and Winston-Salem. Under the program, Kaufhold said
students will use language rather than study language.
Also, reading will be taught in conjunction with
writing throughout the curriculum. 'They'll be reading
the stories they have written," he said.
Following last Thursday's meeting, Kaufhold told a
group of parents that some teachers oppose the new
program because it is harder to teach than other meth
ods. In the past, he said teachers have been able to rely
on workbooks and ditto sheets. Under the new program,
he said there will be more individualized teaching and
that will demand more of the teachers.
He noted that he has four children in the school sys
tem and would not introduce a new program if he didn't
believe in it "It's not something that I would put in if 1
didn't think it would work."
Concerned parents had planned to meet Tuesday
night to discuss the new reading program and grading
system in the county's primary schools. The purpose of
the meeting was to gather input from parents to preser.'
to the school board on Sept 1 1 .