Reprinted from SamWalkerOBXNews.com.

A decades-long battle to restore navigable access on the Currituck Sound off Corolla appears to have taken a more upbeat tone at a recent meeting between representatives from Currituck County and Army Corps of Engineers staff.

County Manager Ike McRee and state Sen. Bobby Hanig, R-Currituck, met with Corps officials Jan. 12 in Wilmington to discuss allowing dredging of a channel in the sound from the Whalehead Club public docks and ramp, and inside the Historic Corolla Park boat basin.

“Going down there and spending time with them had a big impact on them,” Hanig said. “It was a very good meeting.”

A channel has existed in various forms through the shallow waters off Corolla since before the Currituck Beach Light Station was built in the 1870s.

Efforts to dredge a channel since the 1990s have been blocked by state regulators on the grounds that it would harm submerged aquatic vegetation, and the Corps has used various other regulatory and technical reasons to turn it down.

Attempted illegal dredging of the channel using the propellers of three boats led to the conviction of two NC Ferry Division employees and guilty pleas by two others to federal charges in the early 2000s.

Prior to January, the last meeting between the county and the Corps on the Whalehead channel was in 2018, when the county was essentially told it would ever happen.

McRee shared with the Currituck Board of Commissioners at its Jan. 16 meeting some of the details that came out of the gathering with the Corps.

“I thought (it was) a positive meeting, partially because they have a new team there,” McRee said. “(A) new colonel, new regulatory affairs director… their attorney was also there as well as the deputy for the Corps and the Wilmington district.”

“They did not say no, they didn’t say yes, but they said there’s a possible path forward,” McRee said. “They would like us to put together again a more defined statement of purpose.”

Hanig noted that they were very prepared heading into the meeting, with detailed information about the history of not only the channel and the Whalehead Club itself, but also the millions of dollars invested in the mansion and grounds that have been owned by the county since 1991.

“Jenny Kelvin from the (state) Senate President Pro Tem’s office did a remarkable job,” Hanig said. “Her research was spot on; we had all the information from previous attempts.”

McRee and Hanig also noted that staff from the office of state Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, were also very helpful, spending the week prior to the meeting gathering information and making contacts at both the federal and state level on behalf of the county.

“I think we have an opening that will allow us to attempt to move forward again to (with an) application to hopefully be successful this time,” McRee said.

Local officials and residents are hopeful that the dredging would not only allow boats to access Historic Corolla Park, but also improve waterflow and help address invasive submerged aquatic vegetation that choked the boat basin this past summer.

Low oxygen levels caused by high temperatures led to at least one fish kill in the boat basin, while decaying mats of Eurasian watermilfoil and alligator weed were responsible for a noxious smell across the Currituck Outer Banks on strong southwest winds.

Following Hanig’s comments to the board, County Commissioner Paul Beaumont noted that the state senator, who was previously a Currituck commissioner, having direct involvement at the meeting made an impact on Corps officials.

“It adds credibility that the state is very interested in this as well,” Beaumont said. “You’re about as busy right now as you could possibly get … taking the time and going down there. Thank you so much.”

“(The Corps was) very forthcoming with how … to make it a good application to get it across the finish line,” Hanig said. “We do have our challenges — it’s going to be a process.”

Hanig expressed that everyone needs to have patience with the process, estimating it may be up to two years before a final decision is made.

This story was provided courtesy of SamWalkerOBXNews.com, a membership-supported news service covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review has partnered with Sam Walker to help expand our coverage of news relevant to the North Carolina coast.

Reprinted from OBX Today

The Town of Manteo Board of Commissioners have removed the interim tag from Melissa Dickerson’s position as town manager by unanimous vote at their workshop meeting on Wednesday.

Dickerson was appointed as the interim manager in December while she continued to serve as the town planner. With Dickerson taking the town manager’s job on a full-time basis, the position of Manteo town planner had been formally advertised as available.

“Town Manager Dickerson not only brings a lot of experience to the table, but also valuable knowledge and history of the community as a native of Dare County. Throughout her career, she has been and continues to be a dedicated public servant,” town leaders said in a statement.

Prior to her work at the town, she served as the state director for former U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, a research assistant for the North Carolina General Assembly, and district liaison for former Rep. Brad Miller, a Democrat who represented the 13th District.

Dickerson is a Manteo High School graduate and has a bachelor’s in political science from the University of North Carolina Greensboro. She also is a graduate of the municipal and county administration program of the UNC School of Government and is a member of the International City/County Management Association.

OBX Today is the community website of JAM Media Solutions’ Outer Banks radio stations: Beach 104, 94.5 WCMS, 99.1 The Sound and Classic Rock 92.3. The website is managed by local newsman Sam Walker and journalist Kari Pugh. Coastal Review is partnering with OBX Today to provide our readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast.

From an OBX Today report

Gypsy moths have been found in new locations along the Outer Banks, with the state planning to treat the affected areas in late spring 2022.

The invasive species feeds on the leaves of more than 300 species of trees and shrubs, predominantly oaks and hardwoods.

When areas become heavily infested, trees may be completely stripped of foliage, leaving yard trees and entire forests more susceptible to attacks from other pests. Severe infestations often lead to tree death.

Gypsy moth caterpillars can also pose public health concerns for people with respiratory problems. In areas with high-density gypsy moth populations, the caterpillar hairs and droppings may cause severe allergic reactions.

The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has addressed spot introductions of the gypsy moth across North Carolina since the 1970s. The treatment is to be done in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service and the Gypsy Moth Slow the Spread Foundation, Inc.

An area of Buxton Woods on Hatteras Island has been undergoing treatments for gypsy moths multiple times over the last decade.

Three additional areas on the Outer Banks, in Southern Shores and Duck, southern Corolla and Carova Beach, have now been identified by agriculture officials as needing treatment. Two other areas are on Knotts Island and northwest Camden County.

Public meetings are planned for the coming months on the proposed treatments. One has been scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8 at the Duck Town Hall.

If you are unable to attend the in-person meeting, you can find out more information, submit a public comment, or to request email/text notifications about treatment dates by visiting www.ncagr.gov/GypsyMoths/treat.

OBX Today is the community website of JAM Media Solutions’ Outer Banks radio stations: Beach 104, 94.5 WCMS, 99.1 The Sound and Classic Rock 92.3. The website is managed by local newsman Sam Walker and journalist Kari Pugh. Coastal Review is partnering with OBX Today to provide our readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast. 

Reprinted from OBX Today

A federal judge has ruled in favor of the North Carolina Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration over a lawsuit filed by conservation groups and a local organization opposed to a bridge over the Currituck Sound between Corolla and the mainland.

But there is still a long ways to go before the first piling can be driven for the toll facility that would span 7 miles of open water and swampland between Aydlett and Corolla.

North Carolina Turnpike Authority officials, which oversee all toll projects in the state, have said as recently as May that it would likely be 2023 before any work could begin.

The mid-Currituck bridge and a number of other expensive major highway construction projects in North Carolina were among the first to be delayed when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, due primarily to the impact on the amount of money coming into state coffers due to the drop in gas tax revenue.

The Southern Environmental Law Center represented the North Carolina Wildlife Federation and NOMCB (No Mid-Currituck Bridge)/Concerned Citizens and Visitors Opposed to the Mid-Currituck Bridge, in the lawsuit filed in April 2019 challenging the highway departments’ environmental analysis and decision document.

The groups filed their lawsuit under the National Environmental Policy Act, arguing state and federal transportation agencies have failed to consider less damaging and less expensive alternatives.

Those include widening N.C. 12 through Southern Shores and Duck to three lanes, traffic circles instead of stop lights, and building a flyover interchange with U.S. 158 in Kitty Hawk.

The suit claimed there had been no public input on the proposal since 2012, that the Federal Highway Administration’s approval of the project this winter was based on data that is more than seven years old, and that tolls would have to top $50 during peak season to pay for the project.

While public statements by the plaintiffs claimed the cost will be above $500 million, and the lawsuit said $600 million when it was filed more than two years ago. A North Carolina Turnpike Authority officials said last spring they still estimate the cost to come in under $500 million.

NCDOT Division Engineer Sterling Baker said in a letter sent Thursday to state and local leaders that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina decided in favor of NCDOT and Federal Highway Administration.

“The court ruled that NCDOT and FHWA complied with applicable federal laws and regulations,” Baker said. “The project team is evaluating the schedule and working on next steps to move forward.”

The letter did not specify which judge issued the ruling, and there is no word yet from the plaintiffs on a possible appeal.

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast.

Reprinted from OBX Today

Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co. is the low bidder for the 2022 Avon and Buxton beach nourishment projects.

Great Lakes bid $25,870,000 with a start date of May 1, 2022, and an end date of Sept. 30, 2022. The Avon and Buxton beach nourishment project’s estimated cost is $30,211,176.

Dare County received bids for the projects from Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co., Manson Construction and Weeks Marine.

The bids were opened Nov. 17 but the proposals must be evaluated for completeness before a specific bid can be recommended to the Dare County Board of Commissioners, which will then give approval to award the bid.

Great Lakes Dock and Dredge most recently conducted the beach widening projects from Duck to Nags Head four years ago.

Dare County will use occupancy tax and property tax funds to pay for the Avon project, a first for the beach stretching from Due East Road to the Ramp 38 area.

The sand lost from previous beach widening from the Haulover to the old Coast Guard base in Buxton, and South Nags Head from Jennette’s Pier to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore border, was determined to have been caused by recent hurricanes, making the projects eligible for federal and state disaster relief funds.

An announcement about the bids for the South Nags Head project are pending.

Weeks Marine submitted a bid of $27,932,050 for the sand pumping projects that are anticipated to take place next spring and summer off Duck, Southern Shores, Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills.

The same company ran into numerous mechanical and weather delays while widening the beaches off Buxton between 2017 and 2018.

A combination of funding for those projects will come from funds set aside for beach nourishment from the county’s occupancy tax on hotel/motel room and vacation property rentals, along with a portion of property taxes assessed in the four towns that have been designated to beach nourishment.

Duck, Southern Shores, Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills will have to come up with just under $12 million combined, while the county’s beach nourishment fund contribution will be just over $8.7 million, and there are grants of $11.7 million from FEMA and the state.

Exact dates for next year’s nourishment projects have not been set, so it is still too early to know when workers and equipment will be along a specific section of Outer Banks beach.

More information about beach nourishment on the Outer Banks can be found at MoreBeachToLove.com.

OBX Today is the community website of JAM Media Solutions’ Outer Banks radio stations: Beach 104, 94.5 WCMS, 99.1 The Sound and Classic Rock 92.3. The website is managed by local newsman Sam Walker and journalist Kari Pugh. Coastal Review is partnering with OBX Today to provide our readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast. 

Reprinted from OBX Today

A Raleigh judge says a lawsuit filed by dozens of North Carolina residents and a recreational fishing advocacy group against state regulators can move forward.

The Coastal Conservation Association of North Carolina, along with 86 other plaintiffs, filed the suit against the state in November over what they call “abject failure” to “properly manage” coastal resources.

“The complaint details how the State has for decades tolerated overfishing of flounder and other species of coastal fish that are valued by the fishing public,” the advocacy group said last week in a release.

“The complaint also chronicles the staggering bycatch resulting from the State allowing the use of unattended gillnets and trawling in North Carolina estuarine waters heavily populated with juvenile fish — two practices that all other southeastern states have banned or severely curtailed because of the extraordinary amount of waste they generate,” the release continues. “The plaintiffs contend that as a result of these and other failures to properly manage coastal fisheries, the State has violated the North Carolina Constitution and the public trust doctrine, a legal doctrine under which the State holds certain natural resources in trust for its current and future citizens.”

The state filed a motion to dismiss the suit in January, claiming immunity from similar legal actions, among other reasons.

A hearing on the motion was held June 9 in Wake County Superior Court, and an order rejecting the state’s request was issued on July 28. CCA said Wednesday the state is now seeking an appeal.

“For the state to argue in court that it has no responsibility for preserving our coastal fisheries is deeply concerning,” said Bert Owens, chair of the CCA of North Carolina’s board of directors.

“By taking this approach, the state has made this about something larger than the documented decline of our coastal fisheries under its management,” Owens said. “There is a fundamental disagreement here about the relationship that we, as citizens, have with our government, and the government’s responsibility to ensure that we have natural resources like fish and wildlife to pass along to future generations.”

Tim Gestwicki, chief executive officer of the North Carolina Wildlife Federation, said he was “pleased that the Court reached the correct result, which reflects the basic, time-honored principle that the State is responsible for protecting our public trust resources.”

“The state’s assertion that it does not have an enforceable, affirmative obligation to manage North Carolina fisheries for the long-term public good flies in the face of the clear language of the North Carolina Constitution, Article 1, Section 38, which states that the right to fish shall be forever preserved for the public good,” said Dr. Joseph Kalo, the Graham Kenan Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina School of Law.

“The state’s position would make the constitutional right to fish meaningless. Surely the voters in 2018, who by a wide margin approved this amendment to the constitution, believed that the right to fish meant something more than the right to wet a hook,” Kalo said. “Preserving the right necessarily implies an obligation to use sound science to secure, protect, and manage the health of fishery resources for the long-term public good.”

According to the CCA, the plaintiffs include five former members of the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission.

“(I am) grateful for the court’s ruling, which puts us closer to ensuring that sustainable coastal fisheries will be there for our children and grandchildren,” said Mac Currin, one of the former MFC members.

OBX Today is the community website of JAM Media Solutions’ Outer Banks radio stations: Beach 104, 94.5 WCMS, 99.1 The Sound and Classic Rock 92.3. The website is managed by local newsman Sam Walker and journalist Kari Pugh. Coastal Review Online is partnering with OBX Today to provide our readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast. 

A contractor from South Carolina began digging out the channels in late December and planned to complete the work this week.

The wooden-hulled Elizabeth II was built by hand at what is now the site of the Roanoke Island Maritime Museum using privately-raised funds, and was launched in 1984 as part of the 400th anniversary celebration of the Roanoke Voyages to the New World.

It was then donated to the state and became part of the attractions at Roanoke Island Festival Park across Dough’s Creek from the Manteo waterfront and operated by the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Kim Sawyer, executive director of Roanoke Island Festival Park, said the ship will be hauled out at a boatyard in Wanchese for a variety of repairs to the hull.

Park staff and volunteers with the Friends of Elizabeth II, many whom make up the crew of the ship, will be documenting with video and social media posts the work that will be taking place during the haul out.

Plans are for the Elizabeth II to return to its home port in about three weeks, just ahead of the park opening for 2021, Sawyer said.

For more details about Roanoke Island Festival Park, visit RoanokeIsland.com.

OBX Today is the community website of JAM Media Solutions’ Outer Banks radio stations: Beach 104, 94.5 WCMS, 99.1 The Sound and Classic Rock 92.3. The website is managed by local newsman Sam Walker and journalist Kari Pugh. Coastal Review Online is partnering with OBX Today to provide our readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast. 

Reprinted from OBX Today

Dozens of North Carolina residents and a recreational fishing advocacy group have filed a lawsuit against state regulators over what they call “abject failure” to “properly manage” the state’s coastal resources.

OBX Today is the community website of JAM Media Solutions’ Outer Banks radio stations: Beach 104, 94.5 WCMS, 99.1 The Sound and Classic Rock 92.3. The website is managed by local newsman Sam Walker and journalist Kari Pugh. Coastal Review Online is partnering with OBX Today to provide our readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast. 

Reprinted from Outer Banks Voice

The National Park Service is advising visitors to Cape Hatteras National Seashore to be careful along sections of beach on Bodie Island and between Salvo and Avon where onshore wave action has created naturally-occurring cliffs.

Known as escarpments, they most recently appeared between ramp 2 at Coquina Beach and ramp 4 at Oregon Inlet, and at ramp 25 near Little Kinnikeet on northern Hatteras Island, according to the Seashore’s weekly Cape Chronicle newsletter.

Wide gaps form in sandbars, known as a slough, which allowed high energy waves to run farther up the beach and start quickly chewing at the dune line.

Lunar tides were also above normal this past week due to the full moon.

The escarpments usually take care of themselves over time, with extended periods of offshore winds and lighter swells. But that likely won’t happen until spring.

Daily updates are available on beach access and rip current forecasts for Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast.

Reprinted from Outer Banks Voice

OUTER BANKS — Preliminary damage estimates for Dare County from Tropical Storm Michael totaled $7.3 million primarily from soundside flooding, with the highest amounts in Nags Head, Kill Devil Hills and Colington.

Sustained tropical storm-force winds over a period of about eight hours caused very high water levels on soundfronts from Avon north, according to a report compiled by Dare County.

A total of 910 residential, 58 commercial and 11 public properties were affected by the storm in some way. Twelve properties suffered major damage, and 182 had minor damage.

Residential damage was estimated to cost $6,553,615. Commercial property damage was estimated at $587,923 and public property damage at $165,000.

Total damage from Michael in the three categories was $1,995,373 in Nags Head, $1,977,850 in Kill Devil Hills and $1,237,745 in Colington.

The report noted personal property losses were considerable, with hundreds of motor vehicles flooded, and other types of personal property, like boats, campers and recreational vehicles also sustained damage.

Learn More

• Tropical Storm Michael – Initial Damage Assessment

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast.

Reprinted from Outer Banks Voice

The remnants of Hurricane Michael plowed into the Outer Banks Thursday night, creating major soundside flooding from Duck to Hatteras and knocking out power to more than 5,000 customers.

At 1 a.m., Dominion Energy reported 5,444 Dare County customers in the dark and 271 in Currituck. Tideland Electric had 223 customers out in Stumpy Point and East Lake and 2,025 customers out in Hyde County.

High winds as expected began waning around 2 a.m., but slowly.

The flood gauge at Oregon Inlet Fishing Center reached 5.4 feet at midnight. The record was 6.31 feet during Hurricane Irene.

N.C. 12 on Hatteras Island was impassable late Thursday due to flooding, water had breached the Manteo Causeway and downtown Manteo was under water at midnight. In Duck, N.C. 12 was closed south of Stan White Realty due to sound overwash.

Flood waters were reported to be at four feet in Colington late Thursday into early Friday. Major flooding was also reported in Kitty Hawk, Manteo, Wanchese and along Bay Drive.

Emergency responders were called to dozens of water rescues, including people trapped in vehicles at Camp Hatteras.

High winds continued to cause problems into early Friday morning, with downed trees and power lines across the county.

The National Weather Service reported sustained winds of 47 mph in Manteo around 9 p.m. Thursday with a gust of 53 mph.

Winds from the south steadily increased through the afternoon, with sustained gales of 30 to 35 mph and gusts over 40 mph recorded at a number of stations in eastern North Carolina.

The storm’s center passed well inland as it was being tossed by a cold front into the Atlantic Ocean by Friday morning off Virginia’s Eastern Shore.

The heaviest rainfall has been concentrated over central and western North Carolina, where numerous trees have also been downed and thousands are without power. Serious flash flooding has been reported in parts of Virginia.

The storm made landfall around midday Wednesday at Mexico Beach, Florida, as a strong Category 4 system, with sustained winds of 155 mph.

Michael had the third-lowest barometric pressure, 919 millibars, for a storm making landfall in the United States in recorded history.

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast.

Updated 2 p.m. Friday: Division of Marine Fisheries Friday announced by proclamation that the following areas will to return to normal closure boundaries effective sunrise Saturday:  Ocracoke Island, Hatteras Island, Roanoke Sound and a portion of Pamlico Sound. The waters in the following counties will remain closed: Brunswick, New Hanover, Pender, Onslow, Carteret, Craven, Pamlico, Beaufort, and parts of Hyde and Dare counties.

Map reflecting current closure status.

Reprinted from Outer Banks Voice

OUTER BANKS — With the massive amounts of floodwater flowing through the sounds and coastal rivers of North Carolina from Hurricane Florence, the harvesting of oysters and clams had ground to a halt.

If testing this week of the waters from Ocracoke to Manteo comes back safe, shellfish producers in Dare and Hyde counties could be able to harvest their mollusks and start sending them to market again as early as Saturday.

The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries issued a proclamation on Sept. 11 stating that beginning Sept. 13, the harvest of oysters, clams or mussels from state waters by commercial and recreational interests was banned.

High season for North Carolina shellfish is traditionally considered the months with “R” in them, so the closure hit just as things start to really get busy.

“We have about 20 different varieties we sell, and around half of them are from North Carolina suppliers,” said Daniel Lewis, owner of Coastal Provisions in Southern Shores, which touts the largest selection of North Carolina oysters of any Outer Banks restaurant.

His staff was at the State Farmers Market in Raleigh last Tuesday, scooping up the last of the Down East oysters that were harvested right before the storm.

For some producers, especially those at the mouth of rivers that are still experiencing record-breaking flooding, the entire fall and early winter could be lost.

“They are filter feeders, so they take into their bodies whatever is in the water,” said DMF spokesperson Patricia Smith.

That means the “black water” from all the septic tanks, sewer systems, hog lagoons, factories, vehicles and whatever else has been flooded by Florence eventually ends up in coastal waters and is consumed by oysters and clams that are just doing what they do naturally.

Eventually as the water clears, so will the shellfish, as they filter the toxins out with clean water. But it could be months before that happens.

For shrimp, crabs and finfish, the situation is less tenuous. For the most part, they just move out of the way to cleaner water. No closures are anticipated for those fisheries.

With the majority of the runoff below the middle and upper Pamlico Sound basin, shellfish producers along Ocracoke, Hatteras, Bodie and Roanoke islands and the adjacent mainland may have lucked out.

The harvest and consumption of oysters and clams from above the northern tip of Roanoke Island, and many of the ditches, canals, creeks, and bays along Dare and Hyde counties is permanently prohibited.

Smith said the air conditioning at the division’s main offices and labs in Morehead City failed right after the storm, and that prevented testing to take place until it was repaired.

And it will be early next year before the long-shuttered water quality testing lab in Nags Head can reopen, Smith noted.

Smith said inspectors were sampling Dare and Hyde waters on Wednesday, allowing for a day of travel back to Morehead City, the shellfishing could resume north of Ocracoke by Saturday.

Once that happens, Lewis said, he will be stocking up again with fresh Outer Banks Catch oysters just a soon as they can get them out of the water.

Learn More

• NCDMF interactive map of shellfish closures

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast.

Reprinted from the Outer Banks Voice

RODANTHE — The first piling has been driven into the ground for the 2.4-mile “jug-handle” bridge that will eventually reroute N.C. 12 around an area that has been repeatedly washed out.

NCDOT Public Relations Officer Tim Haas confirmed construction crews began driving the first trestle pile around midday Thursday for the land-based portions of the bridge before continuing out into the open water. Based on the current schedule, the bridge is expected to open to traffic by late 2020.

The bridge will stretch from the southern portion of the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge to northern Rodanthe and will bypass the S-turns section of N.C. Highway 12, which is highly susceptible to breaches during storms.

The bridge earned its “jug handle” moniker from its distinctive shape that juts out into the Pamlico Sound before reconnecting with N.C. 12 north of Rodanthe.

This design — which is also referred to as the preferred alternative — minimizes the impact to the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, the ocean shoreline and the community of Rodanthe while maintaining safe and reliable access, according to NCDOT.

NCDOT will also build a one-lane roundabout, as opposed to a traditional T-type intersection at the end of the existing N.C. 12, and by the relocated N.C. 12 near the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. The concept was developed to provide a safer intersection with less potential conflict points — areas where drivers are crossing, merging or leaving a road.

Traffic will be maintained on N.C. 12 while the new bridge is being built, and once construction is complete, the existing roadway in the refuge will be removed, while the existing section of N.C 12 in Rodanthe will remain open to provide access to private properties.

The new bridge – along with the Captain Richard Etheridge Bridge on Pea Island, which was completed in the spring of 2018 – is considered part of Phase II of the Bonner Bridge Replacement Project.

The Island Free Press contributed to this report.

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast.

Reprinted from Outer Banks Voice

The North Carolina Department of Transportation has announced several major local projects that could begin over the next decade, including an interchange at U.S. 158 and N.C. 12 in Kitty Hawk.

As part of the annual update to the highway department’s 10-year planning document, known as the Strategic Transportation Improvement Plan, or STIP, projects are scored on a state, regional and local impact level.

In addition to the interchange beginning as early as 2019, the update includes widening U.S. 158 between Barco and Belcross as early as 2025 and a second passenger ferry to run between Hatteras and Ocracoke, as soon as 2027.

These will be placed on the STIP, which will allow for funds to be budgeted for planning, right-of-way acquisition and then eventual construction.

Here’s the breakdown:

• Short Cut Road to superstreet configuration, $91.6 million, right of way 2023, construction 2025.
• Second passenger ferry, Hatteras dock parking lot, $6.5 million, construction 2027.
• Kitty Hawk interchange, $32.2 million, right of way 2027, construction 2029.

An environmental review is under way for the proposed Mid-Currituck Bridge. A timeline for the project is pending approval of the review.

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast.

Reprinted from the Outer Banks Voice

CURRITUCK COUNTY —  Leaders here say they stand by the fees charged to nonresidents to park on county beaches, and are prepared to defend the policy in court.

“Currituck County will vigorously defend its ordinance,” said County Manager Dan Scanlon in a press release issued Thursday.

The suit was filed on June 21 by the Virginia Four Wheel Drive Association, or VFWDA, and the organization’s vice president Sandy Schneirla, a real estate agent from Virginia Beach.

The organization is seeking an injunction to halt the beach parking permit fee charged to nonresidents, claiming the policy violates the North Carolina Constitution, and requests damages of more than $25,000 along with attorney’s fees.

“The county believes this complaint is without merit and we will continue to work towards the enhancement of public safety on the north beach,” Scanlon said.

The county claims the ordinance is similar to other regional communities that issue parking permits only to residents and property owners.

The VFWDA said the lawsuit is in response to the $150 fee imposed on nonresidents by Currituck County in order to park their vehicles on the beaches between 12:01 a.m. on the Friday before Memorial Day through 11:59 p.m. on Labor Day.

A 10-day beach parking permit costs to nonresident visitors $50 to the off-road area. The fee schedule doesn’t include discounts for beachgoers who only want to spend a day or a weekend at the beach, or for those who are renting a beach house for the standard seven-day rental period.

The fees don’t apply to Currituck County residents and nonresident property owners, who are allowed free permits for each vehicle they own. The permits are assigned to an individual vehicle, and aren’t transferable.

In addition, two seasonal guest permits are allowed for each house in the off-road area that is part of a verified rental program. Two guest parking passes are also allowed for houses owned by a full-time resident of the four-wheel drive area.

Unlike the free beach parking permits issued to county residents, guest passes aren’t assigned to a particular vehicle.

Commissioners approved the ordinance requiring a permit to park on the beach on March 5, which the plaintiffs claim violates the “emoluments clause” in Article I, Section 32 of the North Carolina Constitution:

No person or set of persons is entitled to exclusive or separate emoluments or privileges from the community but in consideration of public services.

Currituck County Attorney Ike McCree filed a motion on July 18 for a 30-day extension to give the county more time to file a response to the suit, with a deadline of Aug. 20.

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast. 

Reprinted from Outer Banks Voice

NAGS HEAD — A cliff about 10 feet high has developed along the dune line on part of the Nags Head beach just north of Jennette’s Pier, due to the recent high tides and surf.

Known as an escarpment, the cliff off Gray Eagle Street near Whalebone Junction is the work of a King Tide and an unusually persistent flow of wind and waves.

A King Tide, or perigean spring tide, happens several times a year when the moon is at its closest point to Earth. The most recent was on July 12-15, with the next one predicted for Aug. 9-12.

“The way the back beach and toe of dune have built up over the past seven years, the escarpments will be higher than normal until the (beach) profile equilibrates,” said Tim Kana, president of Coastal Science and Engineering.

The firm designed the town’s beach re-nourishment project in 2011, and will be engineering the re-nourishment effort that has been delayed until next year.

Kana said it appears an “erosional arc” has developed along the Gray Eagle Street area.

Waves are able to roll farther on the beach because of a deeper break in the sandbars offshore that would normally dissipate wave energy.

This is similar to what started in May 2015 at the intersection of N.C. 12 and Kitty Hawk Road, with high surf washing away the dune and the Beach Road in that area multiple times until the Kitty Hawk beach nourishment project was completed last fall.

Smaller escarpments have developed along other parts of Nags Head’s beach in the past year, but not to the height of the one that popped up at Gray Eagle.

“Thankfully the dune continues to protect property,” said Nags Head Town Manager Cliff Ogburn.

“It does seem to be concentrated in this small area. With a return to southwest winds we should see this level out some.”

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast.

From an Outer Banks Voice report

Comparing Dare County’s tourism-based economy to the Greek parable about the Sword of Damocles, Nags Head Mayor Ben Cahoon testified before a congressional committee Thursday in opposition to a draft proposal that would charge significant penalties against states that block drilling for oil and natural gas off their coasts.

“To open nearly all waters to new offshore drilling in almost 30 years, creating financial penalties for these states where coastal businesses depend on clean and healthy oceans would just establish a revenue scheme to transfer money from the states to the federal government,” Cahoon said in his opening statement to the House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.

“Creating a ransom for coastal states to protect their coastal economies, way of life and military readiness violates core conservative principles,” added Cahoon, who noted he is a Republican at the start of his testimony.

The Enhancing State Management of Federal Lands and Waters Act would allow states to disapprove of offshore drilling in up to half the federal lease blocks off their coasts without a penalty.

But states that put off-limits more than half of the lease blocks would be penalized at a rate of one-tenth the amount of government revenue estimated to come from lease sales, royalties and other revenues from drilling.

Cahoon’s opening statement begins at the 31:12 mark, and he answers questions at later points.

Initial calculations estimate North Carolina could have to pay more than $500 million to receive a waiver to protect its shores from offshore drilling under the draft bill, according to North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.

“It’s inappropriate, and once again Washington is pushing its beliefs on to local citizens, instead of listening to their vehement opposition,” Cahoon said.

During questioning by subcommittee co-chairman Rep. Alan Lowenthal, D-N.Y., Cahoon made reference to how the Outer Banks’ single thread of a tourism-based economy holds a sword of doom overhead, despite claims of the oil and gas industry about the relative safety of modern drilling operations.

“The risk of damage may be small, but when there is a spill we have no fallback,” Cahoon said. “If there’s a spill, we’re dead.”

Cahoon also noted studies that show the effects of seismic airgun testing on marine life during his testimony. Plans for testing off the Outer Banks have been discussed for the last several years, despite unanimous opposition.

While some members of the House are pushing for the legislation, there does not appear to the same enthusiasm on the other side of Capitol Hill.

“We did learn in the Senate there is no companion bill being discussed, and it seems that this bill may go away,” Cahoon told The Outer Banks Voice Thursday night.

Cahoon felt the hearing went well overall, despite not being asked about the bipartisan opposition to drilling on the local and state level, or about the potential affects on the military.

“We were prepared for questions that would have addressed the military-preparedness issues that offshore drilling could pose for the Navy,” Cahoon said.

“With the promises given by Secretary Zinke to Gov. Rick Scott to exempt Florida from drilling, there’s nothing that would encumber training off their coast,” Cahoon said.

“Think about what it could mean if the Navy relocated those jets from (Naval Air Station Oceana) to Pensacola over training safety concerns,” Cahoon said. “That economic impact would be felt across the region, including the number of people that live in Hampton Roads and come to the Outer Banks.”

Coastal Review Online contributed to this report. 

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast.

Reprinted from the Outer Banks Voice

Following last summer’s beach nourishment projects from Duck to Kill Devil Hills, Dare County has been recognized by a national association for having one of the country’s best restored beaches.

The American Shore and Beach Preservation Association on Monday released its annual list of the nation’s best restored beaches and included the Dare beaches with Galveston Seawall Beach in Texas, Cardiff Beach off Encinitas, California, Sagaponack-Bridgehampton on Long Island, New York, and Thompsons Beach, New Jersey.

The group praised the $38.5 million project that pumped sand on a total of just over 7 miles of beachfront as why “nourishment is the number one method of enhancing beaches, providing protection to adjacent infrastructure and increasing coastal resiliency.”

As the project was winding down along Kitty Hawk last fall, hurricanes Irma, Jose and Maria passed just offshore, followed by nor’easters in January and March.

The most significant storm surge came during five consecutive high tides over three days in early March, including wave run-up in Kill Devil Hills of 15 feet.

Town officials agreed that the added sand, for the most part, did its job in protecting oceanfront properties.

“But that’s what the project was built for,” said Lee Weishar, chair of the association’s Best Restored Beach Committee. “The take-home message for these projects is a multi-town beach nourishment project can be successful even when the odds seem to be against you.”

“For more than 50 years, beach restoration has been the preferred method of shore protection in coastal communities,” said Tony Pratt, the association president.

“We honor the efforts that go into managing and, when necessary, rebuilding the beaches that are in the hearts of so many vacationers,” Pratt said.

“The town is appreciative of the effort the county manager made to allow our project to come to fruition at such a late point in the planning and permitting process,” said Southern Shores Mayor Tom Bennett.

“We are also grateful to the (county) board of commissioners and the other towns for allowing us in to the project at the 11th hour,” Bennett added.

“Dare County is committed to preserving our beaches,” said county board chairman Bob Woodard. “They are the engine that drives our tourism economy and they require ongoing attention.”

“That is why Dare County and its municipalities have stepped up to the plate and committed local resources to fund beach nourishment projects due to the lack of federal funding,” Woodard said.

“I think you’d be hard pressed to find this type of collaboration in a lot of communities, starting with the county and the way the municipalities worked so well together,” said Kill Devil Hills Mayor Shelia Davies.

“We’re incredibly fortunate to be headed into the summer of 2018 with a nourished beach and into storm season with a hazard mitigation plan,” Davies said.

“It’s already done a wonderful job as far as keeping us from having to pump (away overwash), normally we got to the point we had to pump after every nor’easter and we haven’t had to pump one time since,” said Kitty Hawk Mayor Gary Perry.

“We were a little worried as a council and what Kitty Hawk villagers would think of it,” Perry said. “In the end they saw the need, they saw the damage that would be done on a routine basis and they let us tax them (to help pay for it).”

“The project works,” Perry added. This collaboration is the only way it could be done.”

The American Shore and Beach Preservation Association advocates for beach nourishment and dune building. It is made up of town and county officials, dredging companies and coastal engineers and geologists.

To enter the Best Restored Beach competition, coastal communities nominated their projects for consideration, and an independent panel of coastal managers and scientists selected the winners.

Judging was based on three criteria:

• The economic and ecological benefits the beach brings to its community.
• The short- and long-term success of the restoration project.
• The challenges each community overcame during the course of the project.

“I look for commitment and dedication to the project,” Weishar said. “I want the applicant to make me love his or her beach.”

“Dare County’s collaborative effort is a model to be considered nationwide by communities trying to increase coastal resilience,” said Ken Willson, program manager with Texas-based APTIM, the firm that engineered the project.

“This approach enabled considerable cost and time savings,” Willson said. “For example, we’ve estimated that by constructing the projects cooperatively, the locals achieved a cost savings of around $5.5 million on mobilization alone.”

““I think we all agree that in order to remain as sustainable and resilient coastal communities, we must continue to prioritize protection of our beaches as a vital component of our tourism infrastructure,” Woodard said.

Russ Lay and Rob Morris contributed to this story.

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast. 

Reprinted from Outer Banks Voice

Rep. Beverly Boswell, R-Dare, introduced a bill Thursday that would reopen a lab in Dare County that tests samples from area waters for shellfish sanitation and recreational quality.

The Department of Environmental Quality’s water testing laboratory in Nags Head was closed in 2014 after state funding cuts. As a result, the department closed all waters in the upper Pungo, upper Pamlico and upper Neuse rivers, more than 300,000 acres, on a permanent basis.

“The legislation that I am sponsoring will help us protect our natural resources by again sampling and analyzing our coastal waters to ensure they are safe for wading, swimming and shellfishing,” Boswell said.

The Southern Shores Civic Association, town of Southern Shores and Dare County Board of Commissioners last year requested the General Assembly provide funds to sample and analyze bacteria levels at locations across northeastern North Carolina and the Outer Banks.

The bill now awaits assignment to the appropriate House committees, expected Monday.

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast.

Reprinted from the Outer Banks Voice

KILL DEVIL HILLS – Admission to the Wright Brothers National Memorial will cost more starting June 1, as part of a plan by the National Park Service to help address an $11.6 billion backlog of maintenance and construction projects across the country.

The entrance fee for individuals 16 and older will increase to $10 for a ticket good for seven consecutive days. Children 15 and under will still be able to enter for free.

It’s the first increase to entrance fees at the memorial since 2015, when the current individual rate was set at $7.

Annual pass fees will increase to $35. The pass allows unlimited entry to the park in Kill Devil Hills for 12 months from date of purchase for the pass holder and three people, ages 16 and older.

“Entrance fees are vital to addressing infrastructure needs and helping to improve visitor experiences at Wright Brothers National Memorial,” said Park Service Superintendent David Hallac.

According to a Park Service news release, the increase being implemented at parks around the country was in response to public comments on a fee proposal released in October 2017, rather than higher peak-season fees initially proposed only for 17 highly-visited national parks.

The Park Service said at least 80 percent of Wright Brothers National Memorial entrance fees stay in the park and are devoted to spending that supports the visitor.

The park shares the remaining 20 percent of entry fee income with other national parks for their projects.

Entrance fees collected by the National Park Service totaled $199.9 million in fiscal 2016. The NPS estimates that once fully implemented, the new fee structure will increase annual entrance fee revenue by about $60 million.

Wright Brothers National Memorial is one of 117 National Park Service sites that charges an entrance fee. The other 300 national parks, including Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site will remain free to enter.

The National Park Service has a standardized entrance fee structure, composed of four groups based on park size and type. Wright Brothers National Memorial is one of 43 sites in group 1.

Some parks not yet aligned with the other parks in their category will raise their fees incrementally and fully incorporate the new entrance fee schedule by January 1, 2020.

The price of the annual America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Annual Pass and Lifetime Senior Pass will remain $80.

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review Online partners with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast.

Reprinted from Outer Banks Voice

The Coast Guard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Environmental Protection Agency are monitoring the tracking and assessment of about 76 stray cargo containers that were lost last weekend off Hatteras Island.

Last Sunday, the cargo ship Maersk Shanghai alerted watchstanders at Sector North Carolina’s command center that they lost about 70 cargo containers during a heavy roll about 17 miles east of Oregon Inlet.

Maersk later confirmed 76 containers were lost in the high winds and seas from the nor’easter, including one carrying about 5,900 pounds of sulfuric acid.

There were no indications any containers of sulfuric acid have surfaced or washed up on shore and no other hazardous materials were reported in the containers, according to a Coast Guard news release.

Officials say that if the sulfuric acid leaked it would be quickly diluted and neutralized by salt water.

Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City crews, Coast Guard Auxiliary aircraft crews and aircraft crews contracted by the shipping company have conducted multiple overflights, locating nine containers on the surface.

Only two of the sighted containers remain floating and have been designated hazards to navigation.

“Our main priority is ensuring the safety of navigation in the area and addressing potential environmental impacts,” said Coast Guard Capt. Bion Stewart, commanding officer, Sector North Carolina.

The owners of Maersk Shanghai contracted a salvage company to place tracking devices and lights on the containers.

The Coast Guard continues to issue Safety Marine Information Broadcasts to inform boaters of the positions of the known containers.

Maersk has also developed a plan to use side-scan sonar to locate the submerged containers to determine their risk to safe navigation and environmental impact. Weather and sea conditions will determine how quickly they are able to effectively survey the area.

Plans developed by Maersk to ensure safe navigation and minimize impact to the environment and marine life will be approved by the Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency prior to execution.

“We are working with NOAA, the EPA, the National Park Service, state and local emergency management and the responsible party to reduce navigation and environmental hazards as quickly as possible,” said Stewart.

Mariners are reminded to notify the Coast Guard of container sightings at 910-362-4015 or on VHF-FM channel 16.

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast.

Reprinted from Outer Banks Voice

KILL DEVIL HILLS — Around two dozen Dare and Currituck leaders met Tuesday with North Carolina Secretary of Environmental Quality Michael Regan to discuss battling the Trump administration’s efforts to ramp up exploration for offshore oil and natural gas.

“Gov. Cooper and I are not going to sit quietly in Raleigh. We’re going to try to leverage these opportunities with people who work, play and live in this precious area to get their voices activated,” Regan said after the gathering at Rooster’s Southern Kitchen.

“We cannot be successful sitting on the sidelines, and the governor and I don’t plan to do that. We plan to make the case that our precious resources don’t need to be put in harm’s way for an effort the state will not benefit from,” Regan said.

The meeting, which was organized by the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce, was the first of multiple stops in coastal counties by Regan on Tuesday. He was scheduled to make an appearance with Hyde County officials in Swan Quarter in the afternoon.

The gatherings come ahead of a Department of Interior forum to be held Monday in Raleigh, which is currently the only session set for North Carolina.

Earlier this month, Dare County Board of Commissioners Chairman Bob Woodard, Nags Head Mayor Pro Tem Susie Walters, Chairperson of the N.C. Coastal Resources Commission and Nags Head Commissioner Renee Cahoon joined Regan, Cooper and others from along the coast at a meeting with U.S. Interior Secretary . Ryan Zinke at the Executive Mansion in Raleigh.

The group stressed that offshore drilling would put North Carolina’s $3 billion coastal economy, 22 barrier islands and millions of acres of estuaries at risk.

“I thought we were winning the day with our argument with science and the economics and the environmental aspects and I was optimistic leaving that meeting, but we are left with only one public hearing in Raleigh,” Regan said. “I don’t think that’s adequate.”

Also at Tuesday’s discussion were mayors Ben Cahoon of Nags Head, Bobby Owens Jr. of Manteo and Shelia Davies of Kill Devil Hills, Dare commissioners Woodard, Wally Overman, Danny Couch and Rob Ross, Currituck Commissioner Mike Payment, and representatives from various other local civic, business and environmental groups.

“One of the chief carrots that’s being dangled in front of North Carolina is the financial benefits,” Couch told Regan. “I’m seeing deep water port Norfolk, deep water port Charleston. Tell us how we can grasp whether or not there will be any economic benefit.”

“Absent some guarantee up front from the federal government, we probably have to sue just as hard for royalties as we are having to sue to fight (against drilling),” Regan said.

The discussion also centered on reiterating to Washington the economic impact that drilling could have if there is an accident similar to the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.

“We have to drive home that this will be hopefully the third year in a row that we have $1 billion in tourism on the Outer Banks,” said Woodard. “If we have one oil spill, it goes away.”

“What are the Tess Judges’ of the world going to do with her hotels? What are the 300 restaurants from Hatteras to Duck going to do, who are they going feed? 35,000 people are going to support 300 restaurants? I don’t think so,” Woodard said.

A lack of statewide, bipartisan unity in North Carolina in opposition to drilling was also brought up at the meeting with the governor and Zinke on Feb. 5.

Zinke said a united front in opposition was the reason why Florida was being exempted from the discussion.

Renee Cahoon said Brunswick County commissioners voted to stay neutral in the matter, while Currituck is still considering whether to pass a resolution, according to Payment.

“They are a big part of the tourism picture. You need to talk to your counterparts and be part of a united North Carolina,” Cahoon said.

Both U.S. senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis, and Reps. George Holding of Raleigh, David Rouzer of Johnston County, Ted Budd of Davie County, Robert Pittenger of Charlotte, Richard Hudson of Concord and Mark Walker of Greensboro have been open about allowing North Carolina to be included in oil and gas exploration.

Woodard said that the state House and Senate leadership, and local General Assembly members Sen. Bill Cook and Rep. Beverly Boswell, have also shown their support for drilling.

At least 30 coastal communities have passed resolutions opposing drilling, joining hundreds of businesses and a bipartisan group of North Carolina’s Congressional delegation.

Gov. Cooper sent a letter on Jan. 20 requesting not only the additional meetings, but the same exemption that Zinke had granted to Florida.

Dare County and nearly all the municipalities have passed or are considering resolutions asking for additional input opportunities and an exemption for the cost.

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast.

Reprinted from the Outer Banks Voice.

NAGS HEAD  — Homes and businesses in Nags Head were inundated by rainwater twice in the span of six days recently by slow-moving thunderstorms that poured millions of gallons of water onto the town in less than two hours.

Water is receding about as fast as Nags Head can address chronic flooding between the Beach Road and bypass that first came to a head after Hurricane Matthew’s record-breaking rainfall.

The Outer Banks topography is not exactly ideal to handle any significant rainfall, as a “trough” probably best describes the peninsula and island chain. Man-made dunes to the east and much taller natural dunes to the west funnel water in between, where the most structures happen to be located.

Although it usually takes only a few hours for water to percolate into the sandy soil during normal rainfall, the problem is compounded by a drainage system that dates back as much as five decades and can barely handle a heavy rain when it is in perfect shape.

“Ditches full of sand, mud, weeds and water,” said South Wrightsville Avenue resident William Broadhurst. “The culverts under streets and storm drains are choked with weeds and debris. No flow at all. None.”

“We are responding to all inquiries to assess the situation on the ground so that we can take the necessary corrective actions,” said Town Manager Cliff Ogburn.

On July 11, 3.96 inches of rain fell in just 90 minutes at Nags Head Town Hall from the same thunderstorm that garnered attention nationwide because it also spawned numerous waterspouts in the Albemarle Sound off Colington.

The connecting streets between Virginia Dare Trail and Croatan Highway from just north of the Kill Devil Hills line to South Nags Head disappeared under as much as 2 feet of water, and sections of both N.C. 12 and U.S. 158 were inundated, bringing traffic to a near standstill.

Other than video of the flooding on the Beach Road shot by The Outer Banks Voice and shared by The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore on Twitter, there was no mention outside of Dare County about the freak storm’s flooding.

Water was still standing in the yards and driveways of the homes of permanent residents, vacation rentals and businesses from that storm and several others that passed through over the next few days, when another “frog-strangler” formed early July 16.

During a two-hour period, 4.97 inches of rain fell, sending up to a foot of water into the lowest level of a number of homes.

Since July 1, the town’s rain gauge has collected more than 15 inches of rain, and measurable rainfall had been recorded in 14 of the first 18 days of the month.

“We have had personnel performing maintenance activities pre-, during and post-rainfall events,” Ogburn said.

Broadhurst said the water table is now just 3 inches below the ground surface in the area where he lives, near the corner of Wrightsville Avenue and Blackman Street, and that septic tanks and drain fields are under water.

He said many residents can’t do laundry, take a shower or even flush their toilets.

According to a “Drainage FAQ” issued by the town on Tuesday, “the rainfall frequency is contributing to elevated groundwater conditions, reducing a ‘drying out’ period, as well as the ability for the Town’s drainage network to recover.”

Rainfall runoff is primarily managed by allowing it to infiltrate into the surrounding sandy soils.

But what isn’t absorbed is supposed to move through the network of “drainage infrastructure,” a third of which is owned and maintained by the North Carolina Department of Transportation, including five ocean outfall discharge points.

While those pipes are located at low points in the town, the majority of them were installed in the early 1960s in response to the Ash Wednesday Storm, which inundated nearly the entire northern Outer Banks with primarily ocean overwash.

No design records for the outfall systems are available, according to the town, but the system has a capacity of less than a two-year level of service, or a 2-inch rainfall occurring over a 24-hour period.

Along South Virginia Dare Trail, South Croatan Highway or South Old Oregon Inlet Road, the stormwater systems are owned and maintained by NCDOT.

“A significant challenge exists due to state regulations prohibiting any new outfall connections or size increase,” Ogburn said.

“This is further compounded by the outfalls having a minimal level of service, having to overcome tidal influences to function efficiently in addition to continual maintenance by keeping the pipes free of obstructions.”

The outfall pipes have no control mechanisms, such as a flood gate or valve, which regulate the outflow or inflow of water from these systems, and the town has no means or authority to close or provide maintenance to the pipes.

Kitty Hawk has been installing a system of drains and pipes in key locations since Hurricane Sandy flooded much of the area between the highways.

Temporary pumps are then placed at the end of the pipes to move the water into the ocean.

But Nags Head has yet to move beyond the planning stages on a similar system, and is in the second year of a three-year effort to update its stormwater master plan and a 10-year capital improvement plan.

“All available options will be explored to include both innovative and conventional stormwater management techniques to increase the level of service throughout the town,” Ogburn said.

“In addition, the town is currently working on the development of an emergency pumping plan, which is required to be approved by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality in advance of operation under emergency conditions,” said Ogburn.

“While it’s understandable the unusual rain causes unusual problems, one would think there would be crews out addressing the issue immediately after the rain,” said Broadhurst. “It’s Wednesday now and I’ve seen not a single truck or man with a shovel even. And the water remains.”

“Our initial efforts were focused on the downstream areas prior to our outfalls to ensure that all were flowing and free of obstruction,” Ogburn added.

“We are currently working our way upstream and in some of the most affected areas in an effort to alleviate flooding,” Ogburn said. “It will take some time to cover the entire town, but we ask our residents to be patient until we are able to get there.”

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest  about our coast. You can read other stories about the Outer Banks here.

Reprinted from the Outer Banks Voice

For the second time in less than a week, an artifact from the Battle of the Atlantic has washed up on a Hatteras Island beach.

A World War II-era unexploded training ordnance was discovered Tuesday in a remote area on the southern end of Hatteras Island, according to a National Park Service news release.

The U.S. Navy’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit from Joint Expeditionary Base–Little Creek in Norfolk arrived Wednesday and used a controlled detonation to render it safe.

A similar device was found Friday morning on the large sandbar that has formed off Cape Point, known as Shelly Island, which led to the evacuation of the area south of ramp 44 for much of the day.

Some of the heaviest losses for shipping in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II were suffered off the coast of North Carolina.

As many as 70 ships were sunk by German U-boats in March 1942 alone within sight of the Outer Banks, and the subs continued to prowl the waters and sink ships through the duration of the War In Europe.

The U.S. military has used the Outer Banks and eastern North Carolina as training grounds for decades, with bombing ranges scattered up and down the once uninhabited parts of the islands. The Navy and Air Force continue to operate a range on the Dare County mainland.

“The disposal of two unexploded ordnances in the last six days serves as a reminder of the part the Outer Banks played during World War II,” said NPS Outer Banks Group Superintendent David Hallac. “I greatly appreciate the support the U.S. Navy has provided.”

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast. You can read other stories about the Outer Banks here.

Reprinted from the Outer Banks Voice

The National Park Service has approved a plan submitted by the North Carolina Department of Transportation to build a system to support the Hatteras-Ocracoke Passenger Ferry, which is scheduled to start running in 2018.

A Finding of No Significant Impact was recently signed by Stan Austin, director of the Southeast Region of the National Park Service, completing the National Environmental Policy Act and National Historic Preservation Act processes that began earlier this year, according to a news release.

NCDOT requested a special use permit from the Park Service to construct several facilities within the boundaries of Cape Hatteras National Seashore to support the ferry’s operation.

The existing Hatteras ferry terminal space will be converted into two additional parking areas to accommodate passenger vehicles and NCDOT ferry division employees, and an open air passenger waiting facility will be built in front of the Ocracoke Visitor Center.

Sidewalk improvements will be constructed to connect the passenger waiting area to the Ocracoke Visitor Center and ferry dock, while the existing boardwalk/ramp will be relocated to the right side of the deck area.

A transit pullout area in front of the Ocracoke Visitor Center will be added for passenger pick-up and drop-off, and a new restroom facility will be constructed behind the Ocracoke Visitor Center.

NCDOT plans to begin construction during the upcoming off season.

Learn More

• Copies of the environmental studies can be found on the Park Service’s Planning, Environment and Public Comment website at: parkplanning.nps.gov/caha_NCDOTpassengerferry.

Reprinted from the Outer Banks Voice

A Pennsylvania native and professional equestrian has been named the new executive director of the Corolla Wild Horse Fund.

Linda Adkins was chosen from a pool of 40 applicants to lead the organization, which manages the herd of roughly 120 colonial Spanish mustangs that roam the northern Currituck Outer Banks.

Adkins proved to have the background, knowledge and experience which the selection committee believes will grow the Corolla Wild Horse Fund and carry out its mission, according to a news release.

Adkins resume’ includes work in nonprofit management, equine welfare and conservation interests.

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast. You can read other stories about the Outer Banks here.

Reprinted from the Outer Banks Voice

Now that the General Assembly has finalized its version of a $23 billion state government budget for the next two years, lawmakers will be moving quickly to wrap up the 2017 session, possibly by the end of next week.

And with a possible adjournment close at hand, an environmental regulation reform bill that would repeal the Outer Banks ban on plastic shopping bags and cut the two at-large seats from the state Marine Fisheries Commission has taken another step toward approval.

House Bill 56, which was approved by the state Senate finance committee on Wednesday, includes rolling back the bag ban implemented in 2009, which initially blocked larger retailers on the barrier islands from Corolla to Ocracoke from using the bags, then expanded the prohibition to all businesses the next year.

It also requires retailers to offer recyclable paper bags and to give a rebate or other incentive for each re-usable bag a customer provides.

Also included in the bill is reducing the size of the state Marine Fisheries Commission from nine to seven seats by eliminating the two at-large positions.

It calls for three commercial-related seats, three representing recreational fishing interest and one for a scientist, all appointed by the governor.

Also included in the proposed scenario is requiring a super majority of five votes to approve rule-making and the regulation of fisheries under a fishery management plan.

The measure includes language that would block any fishery rule changes by the commission or temporary rules issued by the director of the Division of Marine Fisheries “that either were not originally developed in accordance with (state law) or result in severe curtailment of the usefulness or value of equipment.”

H867 has since stalled in committee, but a rewritten measure could resurface before the end of the session.

The bag ban repeal was added to a similar environmental omnibus bill that was cleared by the state House in late April.

H56 has been scheduled to be heard Thursday by the Senate Rules committee, and if approved could be voted on by the full Senate as early as Monday.

And because the Senate has amended the bill, it will likely head back to the House to gain their approval, which legislative insiders say is likely.

With plans for both chambers to send the budget to Gov. Roy Cooper by Friday, there is a good chance the long session of the General Assembly will wrap up by the end of the month.

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast. You can read other stories about the Outer Banks here.

Reprinted from the Outer Banks Voice

DARE COUNTY — A humpback whale that was reportedly sick and emaciated was spotted Saturday in the sound north of Oregon Inlet, but has since disappeared and mariners are being asked for assistance in trying to locate it.

Marina Doshkov with the Outer Banks Marine Mammal Stranding Network said the whale was first spotted on a sandbar near the inlet Saturday morning, and then was last seen swimming in the channel that afternoon.

Veterinarians and other responders are standing by to assess the whale’s condition, according to Doshkov.

“Since humpback whales are considered a protected species, please remain a safe distance of at least 100 yards from the whale,” Doshkov said.

Sightings can be reported to the stranding network at 252-455-9654.

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast. You can read other stories about the Outer Banks here.

Reprinted from the Outer Banks Voice

SOUTHERN SHORES — Dare County commissioners unanimously agreed Monday to pay for half of the proposed Southern Shores beach nourishment project from the county’s sand pumping fund, capping the amount they are willing to provide at $500,000.

Estimates in January had the cost at between $700,000 and $800,000 to hook up to the project this spring in Kitty Hawk.

County manager Bobby Outten noted that since the initial projection by Great Lakes Dock and Dredge, the county’s contractor for the Duck, Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills sand pumping, the estimate for Southern Shores’ portion has grown to around $950,000.

The beach nourishment fund has been used to cover about half the cost of the other nourishment projects on the northern beaches, Outten said.

“The town council has not yet decided to do it, but has authorized the hiring of the same project manager as the county and the other three towns,” said Southern Shores town manager Peter Rascoe.

Rascoe said at a council meeting last month their portion of the funding could come from several sources, including the town’s fund balance or by continuing to provide money that is equivalent to amounts budgeted for projects set to be finished at the end of this fiscal year. Less likely would be borrowing the money and paying it back with a tax increase.

A public forum was held the day prior with more than 200 people in attendance, and a majority expressing their support for the project.

Coastal Planning and Engineering had already been hired at a cost of about $45,000 for the engineering and design work for the town and to submit permit applications with state and federal regulators.

In a separate contract, the town will pay the firm $34,000 to put together a profile of the town’s entire beach.

Rascoe said the late decision by Southern Shores to be included in the Kitty Hawk portion of the project was due to acute erosion north of Kitty Hawk Pier at the end of last summer and early fall.

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast. You can read other stories about the Outer Banks here.

Reprinted from the Outer Banks Voice

NEW BERN — A fleet of shrimp boats sailed up the Neuse River Tuesday and more than 1,000 people turned out for a hearing on a proposal that would place new restrictions on shrimp trawling in North Carolina’s coastal waters.

Five advisory committees meeting at the New Bern Convention Center voted to recommend the state Marine Fisheries Commission deny the rules proposed in a petition from the North Carolina Wildlife Federation.

The petition asks the state to designate waters in the sounds and 3 miles into the ocean as primary nursery areas for various fisheries.

The proposal includes cutting the number of days shrimping is allowed in the sounds and Atlantic Ocean, the amount of time nets can be in the water and the size of equipment that shrimpers can use. It would also set limits for the first time on croaker and spot.

The votes by the Finfish, Shellfish/Crustacean, Habitat and Water Quality, Northern Regional and Southern Regional Advisory committees, which totaled more than 50 members in attendance, were almost unanimous against the petition.

But at least two committee members voted to recommend approval, Mike Wicker of Raleigh and Mark Gorges of Wrightsville Beach, who are also members of the Marine Fisheries Commission.

The commission is scheduled to vote next month at their quarterly meeting in Wrightsville Beach.

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast. You can read other stories about the Outer Banks here.

Reprinted from The Outer Banks Voice.

The Southern Environmental Law Center has filed a suit against the state transportation secretary, seeking access to emails related to the proposed mid-Currituck bridge from Malcolm Fearing, the local member of the state Board of Transportation.

The group contends that the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s failure to provide access to the emails, which may contain information about developments with the 7-mile-long-span proposed between the mainland and Corolla, hampers it “from playing a fully informed role in this federally required regulatory process.”

“The North Carolina Public Records Act provides that government records are the ‘property of the people’”, said law center attorney Kym Hunter.

The legal action filed Tuesday in Wake County Superior Court against Transportation Secretary Nick Tennyson follows a public information request filed July 28 by the group that appears to have not been acted on by attorneys for the NCDOT as of mid-October.

In the suit, the law center included email correspondence with Sophia Spencer, public records manager for the state’s Office of the General Counsel for Transportation.

Spencer said requests for the documents were being handled in the order in which they were being received. But Hunter countered that that conflicted with an explanation given in January 2015 and the department was in violation of state statutes.

The SELC is asking for an immediate hearing, that the requested records be turned over in compliance with state law and that the state assume all legal fees associated with the suit.

“It is essential that NCDOT comply with its legal responsibility and make Mr. Fearing’s records available so that the public can gain a better understanding of the political dealings involved in this expensive bridge project which will drain Division 1 of all its transportation funds for the next decade,” Hunter added.

A NCDOT spokesperson said Wednesday the department does not comment on pending litigation.

The SELC announced last month it had obtained new data from the state Department of Transportation that showed forecast traffic projections are down by half of those in a previous study.

Gov. Pat McCrory announced one year ago that construction would start on the bridge sometime in 2017, despite the project scoring low under the state’s new transportation funding priority process.

The state Board of Transportation approved in January accelerating the construction timeline from fiscal 2019 to 2017 at a cost of at least $410 million.

The state would kick in about $173 million for initial planning, design work and rights-of-way acquisition, and the rest would come from the sale of bonds that would be paid back using tolls.

The law center claimed in October that new estimates place the expected cost of the bridge at up to $678 million, meaning that over $500 million may need to be covered by drivers paying tolls.

The lawsuit also includes public information requests for emails related to the I-77 Lake Norman Causeway project north of Charlotte, and the extension of the Triangle Expressway around Raleigh.

Learn More

• Read the law center’s complaint

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast. You can read other stories about the Outer Banks here.

Reprinted from the Outer Banks Voice

CURRITUCK COUNTY — Assessors from the Federal Emergency Management Agency have visited Currituck, as the county and others in northeastern North Carolina still await being added to the disaster declaration that will allow individuals to get assistance in recovering from Hurricane Matthew.

Currituck Emergency Management deputy coordinator Rebecca Gay said Monday assessors were in the county on Friday. Information has been submitted to FEMA for review, but there is still no word on when a decision will be announced.

Updated totals for Currituck show seven structures were destroyed, mostly by fallen trees, while six suffered major damage and 78 had damage listed as minor.

Five of the homes destroyed were in the Wedgewood Lakes neighborhood, one in Carolina Village and one in Poplar Branch, Gay said.

The approximate value of all damage caused by Matthew in Currituck County remains around $2.5 million.

Flooding remains a problem in the four-wheel-drive area of the Currituck Outer Banks, and mobile pumps are still being deployed to clear those areas, Gay said.

Gov. Pat McCrory announced Monday the addition of three counties in central North Carolina to the disaster declaration, bringing the total to 31 approved for federal individual and public assistance.

The only counties approved for individual assistance locally so far are Dare, Hyde, Tyrrell, Washington, Beaufort, Bertie, Martin and Gates.

Nine counties, including all in the northeast, have been approved for public assistance to help pay for storm cleanup and repairs to infrastructure.

Officials have said the biggest holdup in getting the individual assistance declaration finalized for many counties has been the size and scope of Hurricane Matthew’s flooding and damage in the eastern third of the state.

Residents across the region have access to some form of help from the federal and state governments, even if their county has not been included in the individual declaration.

Anyone who suffered any type of damage from the storm should begin the application process at DisasterAssistance.gov.

Currituck residents who have still not reported their damage are encouraged to call the emergency management office at 252-232-2115.

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast. You can read other stories about the Outer Banks here.

Reprinted from the Outer Banks Voice

The Southern Environmental Law Center says a new study shows decreased demand for the proposed Mid-Currituck Bridge between the mainland and Corolla.

The group announced Monday it had obtained new data from the North Carolina Department of Transportation that showed forecast traffic projections are down by half of those in a previous study. But an NCDOT official disputes the claim and says the data isn’t new.

Gov. Pat McCrory announced last November that construction would start on the 7-mile-long bridge sometime in 2017, despite the project scoring low under the state’s new transportation funding priority process.

The state Board of Transportation approved in January accelerating the construction timeline from Fiscal Year 2019 to 2017 at a cost of at least $410 million. The state would kick in about $173 million for initial planning, design work and right-of-way acquisition, and the rest would come from the sale of bonds that would be paid back using tolls.

But the legal group, which is representing a local organization opposed to the bridge known as NoMCB, said the start date will be pushed back, the price will be going up and that’s enough reason not to build the bridge over the Currituck Sound.

“If NCDOT really takes a thorough look at this project based on current data, we’re convinced that they’ll conclude it’s a long-outdated idea that would waste the area’s transportation dollars while causing significant environmental harm,” said law center attorney Kym Hunter.

New estimates place the expected cost of the bridge at up to $678 million, meaning that over $500 million may need to be covered by drivers paying tolls, according to the SELC press release.

The law center noted that the NCDOT’s proposed $26 one-way toll would have to be as high as $50 per trip to come close to paying for the project.

Highway department officials counter that the group obtained a draft of an update to an environmental study that was issued over three years ago and will be finished by spring of 2017, adding that the press release “is misleading and filled with inaccuracies.”

“The project has not been delayed and is moving forward following a process required by federal law,” according to an emailed statement from NCDOT.

A NCDOT spokesperson confirmed there has been no change to the overall timeline of the project, but adjustments to the schedule for any highway or bridge project is not uncommon.

“NCDOT’s new numbers confirm what we’ve been saying for years — the bridge is a colossal waste of taxpayer money,” said Jen Symonds, leader of NoMCB.

“Not only will the Mid-Currituck Bridge destroy the character of Currituck County, it will place an immense financial burden on coastal taxpayers,”  Symonds said.

This story is provided courtesy of the Outer Banks Voice, a digital newspaper covering the Outer Banks. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Voice to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest about our coast. You can read other stories about the Outer Banks here.

ATLANTA — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Monday it will begin to dramatically scale back its controversial red wolf recovery program.

The agency said in a news release it will begin implementing a series of actions based on scientific information and divided public opinions gathered during the past 21 months. The plan is to limit the area that the endangered wolves are able to roam freely to a federal wildlife refuge and adjacent land in Dare County by the end of 2017.

The move is in response to complaints by private landowners in the existing five-county recovery area, but wildlife conservation groups criticized the decision.

“This is a devastating blow to the world’s most endangered wolf. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has abandoned its obligations to protect and recover the red wolf. This retreat flies in the face of what the majority of people in North Carolina want,” Defenders of Wildlife President and CEO Jamie Rappaport Clark said in a statement on the group’s website.

Plans are to limit the population in the wild to the Dare County Bombing Range and Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, where the agency said stable packs exist on federal land. They also plan to find other locations in North Carolina or the southeastern U.S. where red wolves historically roamed until they were listed as extinct in the wild in 1980.

Red wolves bred in captivity were released into Alligator National Wildlife Refuge starting in 1987.

“This proposed action will change the scope of and goals for the experimental population and is expected to be completed by December 2017,” the agency said, and it will undergo an environmental review and a public comment period.

The agency said it will next determine where potential new sites exist for additional experimental wild populations by October 2017, and ensure they will comply with environmental rules and include public engagement.

A full evaluation of the program was undertaken two years ago after evidence surfaced that dozens of captive-bred wolves were released mistakenly on private lands in parts of the five counties and interbreeding with coyotes became rampant.

Some 200 red wolves are currently held in captive breeding facilities across the United States, including one at the refuge.

While listed as an endangered species, the wolves that have been released are classified by the agency as a “non-essential, experimental population”.

State wildlife regulators called on the Fish and Wildlife Service last year to end the reintroduction of the red wolf in the region and to remove all wolves that were released on private lands.

The release program was suspended in June 2015, while existing wolves were allowed to continue roaming over an area covering 1.7 million acres of Dare, Hyde, Tyrrell, Washington and Beaufort counties.

Coyote hunting was restricted in that area after a lawsuit by environmental groups in reaction to at least eight incidents in which red wolves were shot and not reported, which violated state and federal regulations.

The announcement Monday comes after a two-year, two-step evaluation of the entire red wolf recovery program, according to the federal agency.

An initial report by the Wildlife Management Institute in June 2015 criticized how the Fish and Wildlife Service interacted with residents and property owners surrounding the refuge in the five-county area after the program got underway.

The same findings praised Fish and Wildlife for the science behind the program and noted that it proved to some degree that the red wolf could survive in coastal eastern North Carolina.

Earlier this month, the final results of the study were submitted to the agency.

“The service commissioned these numerous studies, and the updated research and information coming from a diverse group of experts was invaluable to us in making the management decisions we’re announcing today,” said Cindy Dohner, the service’s Southeast Regional Director.

Fish and Wildlife said it will move quickly to secure the captive population of about 200 red wolves because it is not sustainable in its current configuration, with just 29 breeding pairs in captivity.

A five-year status review for the red wolf will also be completed by October 2017, examining whether the red wolf is a valid, list-able entity and whether it is appropriately classified as an endangered species.

To Learn More

• Red wolf program review
• Read the service’s decision memorandum

From an Outer Banks Voice report.

The sudden resignation of Louis Daniel III as director of the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries last week caught supporters, critics, employees and commission members by surprise.

The move was disclosed Feb. 29 in an e-mail from John Evans, chief deputy secretary of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, alerting department staff of the resignation and appointment of Jerry Kelley, head of the N.C. Marine Patrol, as acting director.

Daniel served as director since 2007.

Elected officials, including Gov. Pat McCrory, who will appoint Daniel’s successor, have yet to comment publicly on the resignation.

Both commercial and recreational fishing groups had expressed dissatisfaction with Daniel’s administration over the course of his tenure, but even those who tangled with him at times were taken aback by the decision.

“This news came as a bit of a shock when I heard it at 4:00 (that afternoon),” said Jerry Schill, president of the N.C. Fisheries Association, an organization that supports commercial fishermen.

While they often disagreed, Schill said Daniel kept communication open and respectful, and was grateful that Daniel was always available to talk.

Commission member Janet Rose of Currituck also expressed surprise at Daniel’s sudden departure and said she was also unsure what may have led to it.

A previous article in the Outer Banks Voice raised concerns about the actions of the recreational and at-large members of the commission, particularly at-large member Chuck Laughridge. Laughridge was a former fundraiser and board member of the Coastal Conservation Association, an interest group representing recreational anglers.

State Rep. Bob Steinberg, R-Chowan, publicly raised the issue in September that the commission was suspected of breaking open meetings laws.

In an earlier interview, state Sen. Bill Cook, R-Beaufort, said the commercial industry had lost faith in the ability of the commission to fairly regulate both the commercial and recreational sides, and that something needed to be done to restore faith and fairness.

Sources said the issues raised by Steinburg and Cook triggered the Office of State Auditor Beth Wood to initiate a probe of activities of both the division and commission. The findings of that audit were released on Feb. 16.

Among the questions that were posed to the Auditor’s Office included accusations that there had been violations of open meetings laws, and that Daniel would send e-mails to only select members of the commission.

Southern flounder was the primary issue discussed in the e-mails, and three of the four were originated by at-large or recreational members. A majority of the commission members and Daniel were copied in the communications.

Sources say Daniel was moved to the division’s Shellfish Sanitation Section, which is responsible for monitoring and classifying coastal waters’ suitability for shellfish harvesting for human consumption.

Learn More

• Read the Outer Banks Voice report

From the Outer Banks Voice

NAGS HEAD — The replacement and extension of a 50-year-old stormwater drain pipe into the Atlantic Ocean for the Gallery Row section of Nags Head should be completed by the end of the month.

Carolina Marine Structures was awarded an approximately $400,000 contract last year by the N.C. Department of Transportation to remove and replace the original outfall near mile post 10.5 and extend it into the surf.

The work started in the spring but had to be stopped by May 1 due to the start of sea turtle nesting season, although a 15-day extension was granted, according to NCDOT spokesperson Jennifer Heiss.

“They were supposed to resume work at the end of September; however, Joaquin and the neighboring storm prevented them from starting at that time.”

Work on the ‘Red Drum outfall’ resumed about two weeks ago, and should be finished by the end of December, Heiss said.

Four outfall pipes in Nags Head and three in Kill Devil Hills were constructed by NCDOT shortly after the 1962 Ash Wednesday storm to reduce flooding.

The Town of Nags Head paid out roughly $1.6 million in 2011 to extend three of the pipes by 50 feet during its beach nourishment project to ensure the pipes would continue to flow properly.

When the project was proposed in 2013, town officials said the pipe had lost some of its length and was so deep under ground that a back hoe had to be used to unclog it.

Flooding was common in the Memorial Avenue and Driftwood Drive areas of Nags Head due to the blockage, especially after heavy rainfall events.

NAGS HEAD — Last month’s announcement that a major hurdle had been cleared in the saga to replace the half-century-old Bonner Bridge was only a first step on a winding path before construction will be seen at Oregon Inlet.

The settlement of a lawsuit brought in 2011 by environmental groups against the state of North Carolina had three main requirements before the legal action would be dropped.

Once they are met, construction of a new bridge over Oregon Inlet costing at least a quarter-billion dollars could start sometime next spring, with a projected opening of late-2019.

The first was cancellation of a contract to build a 2.4-mile-long bridge over the inlet through Pea Island cut by Hurricane Irene in 2011. That was done the day the settlement was announced, Heiss said.

Parsons Construction is now in the process of pulling out their equipment and cleaning up the site, and they should be finished by the end of the week, according to NCDOT bridge engineer Pablo Hernandez.

Contractors had already started building the bridge over New Inlet when closed-door negotiations to end the lawsuit began.

Detour roads around the construction site are now in place, and three test pilings were driven as much as 100-feet into the sand when that work was stopped last August.

She added that final totals of how much the state will pay for cancelling the contract are still being worked out.

“Second, the ‘jug handle’ alternative to bypass Mirlo Beach north of Rodanthe had to be presented and approved by the merger team,” composed of numerous state and federal agencies, recently gave their blessing to the proposal, Heiss said.

After that, the agreement suggests, an addition over the Pamlico Sound would extend north to the border of the refuge.

The final step in the way of the lawsuit being dropped is approval of a state Coastal Area Management Act permit for a 3,000-foot long bridge that will replace the current temporary steel bridge at New Inlet.

“We expect that permit to be granted sometime later this summer, a contract will be awarded this fall, and construction will start by the end of the year,” Heiss said.

While it will be a concrete bridge at New Inlet that would open in mid-2017, it is only considered an interim fix for that area under terms of the agreement.

The test pilings at New Inlet will be cut below ground because they are too deep to remove and can’t be incorporated into the design of the interim bridge, Hernandez said. But the pavement on each side of the steel bridge will work for detour routes.

A $216 million contract was awarded in 2011 to PCL Civil Constructors and HDR Engineering for construction of the new Bonner Bridge.

But only 80 percent of the design work has been finished because it was also halted last August when the settlement process was announced, Heiss said.

“Exact costs of the Bonner Bridge will have to be adjusted, since four years have passed since we awarded the contract,” Heiss said.

But that adjustment, just like all other Bonner-related topics, has to await the three conditions of the settlement being reached.

Reprinted from the Outer Banks Voice

The preferred route of the Mid-Currituck Bridge has the bridge anchored off U.S. 158 near Aydlett in Currituck County and landing between the Corolla Bay and Monteray Shores subdivision on the Currituck Banks. Map: N.C. Department of Transportation

Gov. Pat McCrory and State Transportation Secretary Tony Tata last week unveiled North Carolina’s plan for road construction over the next decade and it includes the long-delayed bridge between mainland Currituck and Corolla.

While the Mid-Currituck Bridge’s appearance in the latest draft Strategic Transportation Improvement Plan was met with excitement and hope by local and state officials, it is still not a certainty that the 7-mile-long span between the placid community of Aydlett and the bustling beaches of Corolla will be open to traffic before 2025.

“Currituck County has been in support of building a Mid-Currituck Bridge since the 1970s, so we are pleased to see this project elevated to a status where it might become a reality within the next ten years,” County Manager Dan Scanlon said.

The bridge will help ease traffic congestion during the summer vacation season, improve emergency medical response and evacuation time and provide for more economic development opportunities on the mainland, according to a county statement.

Overall, the bridge will cost an estimated $410 million, with the state contributing $173 million, according to Jennifer Garifo, a N.C. Department of Transportation spokeswoman.

“The remaining funds are anticipated to come through toll revenues generated over the life of the project,” Garifo said.

The draft plan must still be given final approval in June, about the same time the N.C. General Assembly will be writing and approving a budget for the next two fiscal years.

“The project will be programmed in the plan with construction scheduled to begin in 2019,” Garifo said. The draft plan calls for the bridge to take about four years to complete.

Inclusion of the Mid-Currituck Bridge project in the plan announced will not change DOT’s main priority in the region — building a new Herbert C. Bonner Bridge over Oregon Inlet. The state has been ready to start construction, but litigation has delayed the project. State and federal agencies are now negotiating on a compromise that will get things started.

“The money for the Bonner Bridge replacement has already been allocated and this did not impact spending priorities in Division One under the new funding structure,” Garifo said.

State Sen. Bill Cook, R-Beaufort, was optimistic after the plan was released.

“One of the most critical obligations for the bridge is to reduce the hurricane clearance time for residents and visitors during an emergency evacuation,” Cook said in a written statement.

“This transportation announcement is a key development for northeastern North Carolina, and I thank Gov. McCrory, Sec. Tata and Malcolm Fearing for their continued leadership on this project,” Cook said.

Fearing, a Manteo resident, is the Division 1 representative on the N.C. Transportation Board.

Nearly 1,100 projects across all transportation modes statewide are fully or partially funded under the Strategic Transportation Investments law, which created the Strategic Mobility Formula in the most recent session of the N.C. General Assembly.

McCrory said the new formula takes the politics out of deciding which roads will be built by using data-driven criteria.

Projects compete for dollars on a statewide level for 40 percent of the budget, a regional level for another 30 percent, and a divisional level for a final 30 percent.

While the Mid-Currituck Bridge is included in the Division 1 list of projects, it was not on the state or regional lists.

“With the structure of STI, projects that are not prioritized on the statewide level can then cascade down to the regional, and then division level,” Garifo said.

Increasing access speed to existing economic centers are a heavily weighted factor. The regional portion for secondary highways is made up of two of the 14 divisions.

Projects are then judged 70 percent on data and 30 percent on local input. Divisional projects are a 50-50 mix of local input and data.

Reprinted from the Outer Banks Voice

Put in service in 1967, the Diamond Shoals Light Tower has been a lonely sentinel 12 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras. Photo: Coast Guard.

HATTERAS — One of the more unusual deals in the history of Outer Banks real estate closed last week, when a Minnesota businessman signed off with the federal government on the purchase of the Diamond Shoals Light Tower.

Dave Schneider, president & CEO of Zap Water Technology of Richfield, Minn., says he hopes to restore the light tower 13 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras in the Atlantic Ocean to become a research facility for new technologies and available for the public to visit.

“This light station needs to be restored to its original beauty … have you seen what a beauty she was when first opened? … and again be placed into use to do great things again,” Schneider said.

Scheinder’s long-term plan is to open the station to a host of uses, from research and development of new technologies, marine biology and ocean sciences, to product testing for fishing and diving equipment and eco-tourism.

“I guess you could call it a wish for a quasi-environmental/technology center,” Scheinder said.

Zap Water Technology Inc. was the only bidder in a Government Services Administration auction that concluded Aug. 31, placing a $17,200 bid.

According to Zap Technology’s website, the company uses an electrochemical process with salt and water to make an FDA-approved non-toxic sanitizer/cleaner for home and business use.

“The GSA did not allow a site visit, so I had to rely on the Coast Guard Inspection documents from 2010,” Schneider said.

In fact, Schneider has never even visited the Outer Banks. But he plans to come around mid-November to see the Light Tower for the first time.

“I need to inspect, budget and hopefully find some interested technology partners to assist in the restoration,” Schneider said.

The Diamond Shoals Light Tower is an oil drilling platform, known as a “Texas Tower,” on top of four steel legs that was modified to be used as a lighthouse.

The platform consists of two floors, with a living area of about 5,000 square feet that includes five bedrooms, a kitchen, office, storage area, recreation area and toilet facilities.

Dave Schneider

The auction listing said the platform in its current condition cannot support a helicopter landing, and the ladder from the ocean surface to the light tower has been destroyed.

The inspection report by the Coast Guard estimates repairs to the tower would cost at least $2.3 million.

The light tower was built in Louisiana and brought by barge to Diamond Shoals in 1966. Before that  light ships had marked the shoals for about 100 years.

“This structure is an iconic part of North Carolina’s and the Atlantic’s history,” Schneider said. “The light station is a marvel to engineering, and was critical to the safety of shipping and ocean travels when it was in service.

“There are over 1,000 ship wrecks in that area,” Schneider said. “Think how many more there could have been if not for this light station and the light ships that preceded it?”

But the 56-year-old single father of two admits that progress will be slow on restoring the Light Tower.

“I am hoping there are many more dreamers like me, that want to see a great facility like this to be used for a better cause,” said Schneinder.

The rec room of the old light tower,

The tower’s platform has deteriorated. Photos: GSA.

“I will need to organize to get the basic work that needs to be done: sanding, welding, hammering, washing, installing, painting and polishing. So I’m hoping I can find some crazies like me to volunteer to do some of the grunt work with me,” Schneider said.

It’s not the first time someone has taken on the task of restoring a light tower in the waters off North Carolina. Frying Pan Shoals Light Tower, off the tip of Cape Fear on the southeast coast, was purchased in 2009 and has been turned into a bed and breakfast that is now accepting reservations.

“Obviously my company, which is introducing some new green technologies to the marketplace, will have a big place here. Since the basic elements of the technology are water, salt and electricity, it fits well,” said Schneider.

“I think that everyone should have access to the facility. This is a part of this area’s history,” Schneider said. “I am sure there are many, many people from the Outer Banks that have always wondered about the station. Hopefully I will be able to give them a chance to see it.

“I am hoping when I can get it more ‘civil,’ that we can maybe have a ‘deck party’ and get to meet the neighbors,” Schneider said.

Scheinder is realistic about the environment the tower is in and the long road he faces in bringing it back to life.

“This is a very dangerous and unpredictable location … access is very difficult … Remember it is the Graveyard of the Atlantic!” Schneider said.

“So along with learning the ‘big water,’ I need to learn the basics of all the stuff to make this place happen: wind turbines, solar power, desalination,” Schneider said. “And I have to brush up on some old skills like welding, building, plumbing.

“I’m sure you’re getting two schools of thought (around there). Either this is the greatest thing in the world, or it’s the craziest thing in the world.”