Ooif Courses Urge State To Ease irriqation Standards
BY l)ORI COSGROVK (il'RKAM'S
Five golf courses in Brunswick
County have been gathering evi
dence in an effort to prove to the
suite that's effluent water standards
should be less strict.
Sea Trail, Sand Piper Bay,
Brunswick Plantation, Lion's Paw
and Lockwcxxl Folly Golf Links
l.ave joined forces to persuade suite
environmenuil officials that treated
effluent wastewater can be used to
water their golf courses without pre
senting a health hazard to the public.
The goal, said spokesperson Dean
Walters of Sea
TpijJ in Sunset
Beach, is "to ed
ucate them" on
the benefits and
safety of using
the system to in
crease available
water supplies to
golf courses.
"They have
some very strict
rules," he said. "Stricter than South
Carolina."
The method, which has been used
in South Carolina for over 20 years,
calls for treated effluent water from
the local sewer system to be pumped
to the golf course. The water would
then be sprayed on the grounds as a
source of irrigation.
During periods of abundant rain
fail, the wastewater wouid be stored
in holding ponds for later use.
Currently, such an irrigation sys
iem is not allowed in North Caro
lina. Officials with the Department
of Environmental Management
(DEM) in Raleigh are not vet con
vinced that South Carolina's prac
tices arc in the best interests of envi
ronmenuil safety or public health.
Preston Howard, Wilmington re
gional supervisor for the DEM, said
last week that his officc would be
willing to change North Carolina's
suindards if representatives from the
Brunswick County golf courses
could give him substantial evidence
that the proposed system would be
successful.
The present 'non-discharge per
Holden Beach To
BY DOUG R UTTER
Holden Beach Building Inspector Dwight
Carroll will coniinuc accepting building
plans jvst as they're presented following
Monday's town board meeting.
After i! lengthy rir?hnif commissioners
tabled a proposal that would have allowed
the town manager and inspector to deter
mine the intended use of rooms shown on
U nlono
IIUU.^V piuiu.
Town Manager Gary Parker had recom
mended the town follow a state code which
allows inspectors to consider as a bedroom
any room which can reasonably be expect
ed to function as a bedroom.
"There arc some builders who think the
rule is difficult to enforce and think we
should not enforce it, but 1 think we should
enforce the rule," Parker said at the outset
of the discussion.
The rule is designed to control density
and discourage people from submitting
house plans with rooms listed as dens or of
fices which are later marketed, sold and
Bellamy One Of First 3 Inductees In N.C. Soil
BY SUSAN USHER
James D. Bellamy Jr. of Shallotte
adds another "first" this week to the
honors he has earned during 40-plus
years of soil conservation service.
The 69- 'ear-old Brunswick
County native was among the first
three persons to be inducted Tues
day at Raleigh into the new North
Carolina Soil and Water Conser
vation Hall of Fame.
In accepting the honor, Bellamy
told listeners that the award did not
mark the end of his service, that he
has one item of "unfinished busi
ness".
He is heavily involved in efforts
to establish a Resources Conserv
ation and Development District for
Region O, Cape Fear Council ol
Governments He is acting chairman
for the commission that is working
to win one of 20 new positions thai
will be created nationwide. Theirs is
the only application from North
Carolina, which means it should
have the state's support, said
Bellamy. Plus, the original applica
tion has been on file in Washington
since 1974.
Bellamy has served as district su
pcrvisor and chairman of the
Brunswick Soil and Water Con
servation District since 1949. In
nominating him for the Hall of
Fame, the board's vice-chairman,
Harold C. Robinson, wrote, "With
out any doubt, he is one of the most
dedicated supervisors in America.
Wc feel this is one way for the State
of North Carolina to say thank you
for all his contributions..."
Bellamy became the first district
"We're not asking for a lessening of
the water quality, simply a changing
of some of the regulations
? Dean Walters, Sea Trail spokesperson
on requests made to the DEM
A
mil,' which is issued to golf courscs
that mcci state standards, has several
requirements that aa' slightly more
strict than South Carolina's regula
tions.
pjrel ?hr> WaitCV.'.'UCr
needs to go through a three-part
cleansing process. It has to be disin
fected. filtered and biologically bro
ken down to remove all traces of
waste materials.
It is then pumped to a holding
pond, which must be lined to pre
vent seepage into groundwater
sources, and stored. The ponds must
also have some sort of drainage sys
tem to further prevent run-off onto
the grounds.
Spraying is not allowed up to 2
hours to 3 hours before tee-time, nor
before 11 p.m.. which limits the time
irrigation can take place.
Golf communities with residences
are not allowed to spray within 100
feet of a house.
"Maybe we can learn not to be so
stringent," said How-aiu. indicating
the agency's willingness to consider
the approach.
"We'd like to promote this as a
good means of supplying nutrients
to the grounds as well as conserving
water, while supplying the compa
nies with added irrigation," he said.
"We will try to work with them."
Howard said he's not necessarily
opposed to the system, stating that it
prevents wastewater from being
dumped into natural lakes and rivers.
Meetings have been conducted
for the past year on the subject, but
no visible results have been realized
to date.
Walters said that "three or four"
meetings between the golf corpora
tions, represented by attorney Ken
SEWER SYSTEM DISCUSSED ONCE AGAIN
Continue Accepting House
'7/z 10 years you won't get any more permits on
Holden Beach. I'll write that in blood."
used as bedrooms in violation of the health
wuuU
But the proposal met with widespread
opposition Monday night, both from the
board of commissioners and the audience.
Commissioner Gay Atkins, who opposed
the idea when it was last discussed in the
spring of 1989, hasn't changed her mind.
She said builders that want to stay in
business will build whatever the homeown
er wants. Each homeowner, she said, must
be responsible for how 'heir rooms arc
used.
Alan Holden, who owns a real estate
company at Holden Beach, said there's
nothing the town can do to stop someone
from violating the law.
? Alan Huiuen, dcveiupei
If a homeowner wants to rent a two-bed
room house to 10 or 12 people, Holden said
there's nothing practical the town can do to
stop it.
"I'm gonna beat you any way I want to
go if I'm a villain out to beat you," he said.
"You arc not going to beat it unless you
limit the people."
Jim Griffin, a real estate developer, ad
mits thai septic tank permits are frequently
abused.
But he doesn't think the town should be
able to tell someone they can't have a den
simply because it might be used as a bed
room.
"You're telling him that his intent is to
break the law," Griffin said. "I think that's
"It means a whole lot to me. The Hall of Fame is
what everybody considers the ultimate because
you 11 be therefor time indefinite"
? James D. Bellamy Jr.
Hall of Fame Inductee
supervisor to serve as slaic commis
sion chairman in 1965 and also
chaired the group from 1968 to 1970
and again in 1972.
He has also served on the
National Association of Conser
vation Districts (NACD) Board of
Directors from 19X2 through 19XX
and was southeastern NACD region
al chairman in 1984 and 1987.
Locally he spearheaded efforts to
re-establish and secure additional
grant money for the CawCaw
Drainage District, a watershed con
structed in 1967 with a federal grant
that became inactive when property
owners failed to pay their assess
ments and the drainage ditches dete
riorated.
Interviewed Saturday, Bellamy
said the Hall of Fame is the greatest
honor he has ever received.
"It means a whole lot to me," said
the man who has already received
every major known award in his
field of endeavor. "The Hall of
Fame is what everybody considers
the ultimate because you'll DC there
for lime indefinite."
Bellamy's "dozens" of past hon
Kirkman ol Morehead Cily, and
DEM officials had been held since
September of 1990.
Howard reported that he had
asked the group to bring him cvi
.u,:- ?.- ?
??vi.va iv jup}A?ii u;v:; t'iit
that no such data has been presented
to date.
He said that Brunswick Planta
tion, which now contracts for sewer
service with Carolina-Blythe Utilit
ies in Calabash, applied for a non
discharge permit in late 1991.
Preston said he had "some con
cern with their pumping lagoon,"
since it was not lined. The lagoon is
close to the CawCaw Swamp, Ho
ward said, and would run off into
that tributary of the Waccamaw
River.
The application will probably be
submitted again, Howard said, and
would be reconsidered at that time.
If the permit were issued, Bruns
wick Plantation would become the
trendsetter for area large-scale golf
courscs.
Mounting Evidence
Only one non-discharge permit
has been issued in Brunswick
County, Howard said. It's in the
name of North Star Carolina, a cor
poration based in Kansas City, Kan.,
which owns and operates Sand Piper
Bay Golf Links.
Gene Blanton, general manager of
Sand Piper Bay, said that the compa
ny has had '.be permit since "around
April of 1988," but that it only al
lows spraying of treated wastewater
from their restaurant on the driving
range.
Blanton reported that the system
has been successful.
"We haven't had a minute's prob
lem with it," he said, "We were just
ors include the Governor's Con
servation Award from Gov. Terry
Sanford, ihe State Soil Conservation
Service Award twice and the Suite
Soil Conservation Society chapter
award. The latter led to the National
Soil Conservation Society Award
the following yr:ir
Joining him as the hall's first hon
orces arc Lloyd C. Bunch of Eden
ton and the late Dr. Hugh Hammond
Bennett of Wadesboro.
Bennett, who died in 1960 at age
79, was known nationally as "the
Father of Soil Conservation". He
founded the international Soil and
Water Conservation Society and was
the first chief of the U.S. Dept. of
Agncuiiuic juii Cuusci vaiiOii Ser
vice.
Bunch, 89, a Chowan County na
tive, served as a district chairman
from 1948 through 1988, is a past
state association president and Area
5 chairman, and served a three-year
term on the N.C. Soil and Water
Conservation Commission.
N.C. Agricultural Commissioner
Jim Graham, who presented their
enshrinemcni plaques, described the
STAFF PHOTO BY DORl C GURGANUS
GENE Si I ANTON OF SAND PWER BAY Golf Course points at
one of the ground-level sprinklers on the driving range that irri
gates the grass with treated effluent wastewater from the club
restaurant.
inspected and we had a great inspec
tion."
Regarding the proof needed by
other golf courses to change the
DEM's standards for irrigation with
treated effluent, Blanton said his ex
perience "couldn't do anything but
help the situation."
treading on real ihin icc and I would resent
it tremendously."
Commissioner David Sandifer agreed,
and used Griffin's home as an example of
how the rule could backfire.
I l/tnSlimnlo
tjuiivinvi .Htiu v> ? i ? ? 1 1 1 a in.) u iv^iuiiiuiv vivn
and workout ax?m in his house that could
have been interpreted as bedrooms on a set
of building plans.
"It is abused, but you can't throw the ba
by out wiui the bath water," Sandifer sam.
Discussion of the bedroom issue quickly
turned into lalk of the need for a sewer sys
tem al Holden Beach.
Parker said he agrees with several
builders he has talked with who see a cen
tral sewer system as the solution to prob
lems associated with overcrowding.
Planning Board Chairman Roger
Williams said 50 percent of the property
owners who responded to a recent survey
arc in favor of a sewer system and 47 per
cent are opposed.
Of the permanent residents who respond
ed, he said 45 percent want a sewer system
three as working leaders in soil and
water conservation.
"Their work helped farmers retain
and control a natural resource, soil,
so necessary to agriculture," he said.
"That, in turn, makes a cleaner, sale
environment."
Next year, up to three individuals
may be named to the Hall of Fame,
with the number reduced to one a
year in subsequent years, said
Bellamy. Founded in 1991, the Hall
of Fame recognizes lifelong ach
ievement with the 48-year-old N.C.
Association of Soil and Water
Conservation Districts. Inductees'
p'aqucs will be placed in the Scott
Building at the State Fairgrounds in
Began As Farmer
When Bellamy first became in
volved in soii conservation work, he
was a full-time farmer, growing to
bacco, hogs and at one time a large
herd of catUe.
He later became involved in the
livestock, feed and farm equipment
businesses, all the while farming on
a more limited basis.
Bellamy presently raises quail
Blanlon said that he is eager to
have the regulations changed to
make it easier for local corporations
to implement the system.
Sand Piper Bay currently sprays
the remainder of its course with
fresh water pulled from nearby natu
ral lakes.
Plans As Presented
Conservation Hall Of Fame
and has a lew cows at his farm on
Four Mile Road, he said, "but now I
don't keep a schedule or meet a
deadline."
Involvement in the Soil Conser
vation Service and agriculture has
taken Bellamy and his wife,
Virginia, a former public health
nurse, to all states but Alaska, as
well as to Europe.
He was the first supervisor to
serve on the National Soil Conser
vation Service Plant Materials
Center Board of Directors, serving
three years.
Also with the NACD he has
served on five committees and
chaired two, coastal and urban re
sources and the prestigious research
and technology. From 1982 to 19X5
he served on a special task force
charged with revamping the bylaws
and structure of the seven-state
southeastern region. Before the
group's work was completed, three
of seven members had died.
Kcmi-mhers The People
But what he enjoys most and re
members best arc the movers and
shakers he has mingled with in agri
cultural circles and the policies and
decisions that he has helped ?h:inc
over the years.
He drops names casually ? those
of U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
John R. Block, Sen. Jesse Helms,
Rep. Charlie Rose and many others.
How some efforts were a succcss
is hard to explain, he said, citing the
1985 Farm Bill as an example,
which met heavy opposition nation
wide.
"When it was drafted it was the
Meanwhile, Sea Trail Corp. has
been busy gathering evidence in the
fonn of a study conducted on its
greens' capacity to handle such a
system.
Russnow, Kane, and Andrews.
Inc. of Raleigh, have been conduct
ing a hydrologic/geologic study to
send to the DEM.
According to Walters, the report
will confirm what he has believed
all along.
"I maintain that it is not a health
hazard, that this hasn't been
proved," he said "1 maintain that this
is a viable alternative."
?ttt i. ? . iv. c - i
IC I II H <l.SMIIk! !W1 a 1C.WCIIIHK
of the water quality, simply a chang
ing of some of the regulations,"
Walters said. 'Twenty or 30 years
from now, we won't sec any signs of
run-off."
Walters also said ihat South
Carolina had shown no cases of
health risks, even though their water
is not regulated to be its clean as
North Carolina's.
"We've been through a long pro
cess with the DEM, state health ser
vices and environmental agencics,"
he said, "We're going to prove that
there's not a run-off problem or a
down-grading of the aquifer."
Sea Trail's study shows, he said,
that the entire 18-hoIc course, which
Walters estimated at 115 acres to
125 acres, can accept 300,(XX) gal
lons of water per day.
Both Walters and Howard said
that irrigating an area of this size
with sources other than treated efflu
ent, such as groundwater, docs limit
the available amount of drinkable
public water.
More meetings arc on the agenda
for the parties involved, and results
appear to be in sight.
"We're going to change some
things about the law, regardless,
based on what we already know,"
Howard said of the irrigation regula
tions. "But other parts of it we'll
need evidence for."
Said Walters, "I'm sure they'll de
cide in the next few months. I'm
sure we'll be able to persuade
them."
1
anil 52 percent are against it. All of the
town's property owners were sent surveys.
Holden, who serves on the town's plan
ning board, encouraged the board to contact
the neighboring towns of Ocean Isle Beach,
I Ann Ij . . 1. U
?-UI ??, viUII.IVi UVUWII IUIU V^UIUUUOII
about sewer system development.
Ocean Isle has a sewer systems in place
and the other three arc building or consider
ing sewer systems.
Holden said a sewer system would be
cheaper if constructed on a large scale, with
several communities pooling their re
sources.
According to Holden, the Brunswick
County Health Department "hammered"
Holden Beach as soon as Ocean Isle in
stalled its sewer system four years ago.
He said he expects another crackdown on
septic lank permits as soon as the other
beach communities get their systems in
place.
"In 10 years you won't get any more per
mits on Holden Beach," Holden said. "I'll
write that in blood."
first major changes in agricultural
law to have enforcement power with
it," recalled Bellamy. "I was heavily
involved with that, especially with
the wetlands."
Through contacts with the Senate
Agriculture Committee chaired by
Helms, Bellamy was in constant
contact, exerting what influence he
and others could as the bill moved
through Congress.
"It's hard to brag on what we kept
from being done. It's hard to tell
people, 'It would have been a lot
worse if we hadn't been there.'
"I doubt today, though, that
there's anyone who can give you a
definition of what a wetland is."
CPR Class
Offered At
Shallotte Point
Shallouc Point Volunteer Fire
Department will hold a cardiopul
monary resuscitation (CPR) class at
the station on Bay Road Jan. 13 and
?0.
Both sessions will sum at 7 p.m.,
said Joyce Land, with Gregg Warren
as the instructor.
Senior citizens age 65 and older
and members of the Brunswick
County Fire & Rescue Association
may take the class at no charge. For
others, a fee of S30 is payable at the
first class meeting.
For more information, contact
Ms. I .and at 754-6985.