THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 21, 1995 TAG: 9503210288
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
A proposal by the Clinton administration to slash maintenance funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could leave several key North Carolina waterways high and dry.
Under the president's plan, the corps would no longer provide assistance in flood control and in maintaining small-draft harbors.
Forty-one projects in eastern North Carolina would be affected by the cuts, including Oregon Inlet, Avon Harbor, the channel from Pamlico Sound to Rodanthe, Shallowbag Bay in Manteo, Rollinson Channel at Buxton and Stumpy Point Bay.
Among other waters affected would be the Intracoastal Waterway, and the Scuppernong, Pasquotank and Perquimans rivers.
However, a former chairman of a congressional panel that oversees funding for the Corps of Engineers said the Clinton proposal is in trouble on Capitol Hill.
The proposed cutbacks came to light Monday when Robert Williams of Manteo, chairman of the Oregon Inlet Waterways Commission, said a number of already-planned maintenance projects could be scuttled if Congress approves the plan.
Williams said the cuts would have a dramatic effect on the fishing industry out of Oregon Inlet and the state's $97 million North Carolina fishing industry.
No money for clearing the channels could mean a high risk of flooding in the coastal areas, Williams said, particularly in lands that are drained through Oregon Inlet.
Oregon Inlet was created by a storm in 1846. In 1970, Congress authorized construction of rock jetties in 1970, but bureaucratic wrangling and environmental concerns have kept the project in the planning stage.
Those delays have local officials seeing red.
``I'm mad as hell about what is going on at Oregon Inlet,'' Dare County Board of Commissioners Chairman Robert V. ``Bobby'' Owens said. ``It's disgusting and it's degrading. I'm not talking about the jetties. . . . I'm talking about their total commitment.''
Owens accused state and federal officials of giving ``lip service'' to the problems faced by commercialand sport fishermen, and accused federal officials and environmentalists of ``doing a 180 (-degree turn)'' on the inlet issue.
``Somehow, we must get help on Oregon Inlet,'' Owens said. ``The Oregon Inlet Waterway doesn't know anything about Republicans or Democrats. Something needs to be done.''
Corps of Engineers officials in North Carolina say they are uncertain of the impact the proposed cuts would have. However, a key Democratic congressman, Alabama Rep. Tom Bevill, says Clinton is getting bad advice concerning the cuts.
Bevill, a 15-term representative, is a former chairman of the Energy and Water Resources panel of the House Appropriations Committee, which oversees funding for the Corps of Engineers.
``When I talked to the 12 division commanders for the corps, and asked them if there was a city or county government in the country that could handle 75 percent of the funding needed for flood control, they couldn't name one. I think in the name of being good environmentalists, some of the president's advisers are wrecking the system. I think there are going to be some changes made.''
Bevill, a founding member of the Democratic Leadership Council, a group of moderate Democrats that helped elect Clinton in 1992, said there is bipartisan opposition to the cuts.
``For every dollar we spend on flood control, it saves $6 for the American people,'' Bevill said. ``These cuts are a bad idea.''
Third District North Carolina Rep. Walter B. Jones is sponsoring a bill to transfer 100 acres of Department of Interior property to the corps for construction of the rock jetties. Jones, who was unavailable for comment Monday, has said he will continue to push the bill despite the possible loss in funding. The Jones proposal is currently in committee, and no action is expected before the Easter recess. by CNB