THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 24, 1996 TAG: 9607240366
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY CATHERINE KOZAK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: OREGON INLET LENGTH: 78 lines
Faced with the shrinking of Oregon Inlet, local watermen said Monday they are appalled that the federal government wants to wait two more years before beginning work to stabilize the channel.
At an emergency meeting of the Dare County Board of Commissioners Tuesday morning, watermen urged local lawmakers to do all they can to speed construction of $100 million jetties at the inlet.
Wanchese fisherman Willie Etheridge Jr. suggested to the panel that if the planned Herbert C. Bonner Bridge reconstruction and the inlet stabilization project were combined, the state would be authorized to take over inlet land to protect the bridge.
``The bureaucrats have been stalling this project from day one,'' Etheridge said. ``Nearly everyone I talk to in the area, they can't understand why we're building a bridge before it's stabilized. Let's do it all at one time - the quicker the better.''
The board agreed to ask the state attorney general to research the legal question.
``We don't need to tie all ourselves to what the federal government wants to do,'' resident James Fletcher said.
A bill introduced recently by U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., would transfer jurisdiction of 100 acres of land at the inlet from the U.S. Department of the Interior to the U.S. Department of the Army. The proposed legislation, called the Oregon Inlet Protection Act, is intended to speed up the project.
But at a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing on the Oregon Inlet project in Washington on Thursday, H. Martin Lancaster, the assistant secretary of the Army, said it is ``premature'' for the Army to take control of the inlet lands because two more years of studies are needed before the department can evaluate the need for the jetties.
The Interior Department also opposes the bill.
Opponents contend that the Army Corps' annual $6 million dredging of the inlet keeps it as clear as the jetties would for far less money and without environmental damage to adjacent shorelines. Critics are also concerned the jetties could harm fish populations by blocking the movement of fish larvae between the ocean and the sounds.
Proponents of the project claim the 9,000-foot jetties and sand relocation system are essential to keep the inlet open. If the inlet - the only deep-water passage to the Atlantic between Hatteras Inlet and Virginia - pinches shut, it would be devastating to commercial and sport fishing, tourism, water quality of the sounds and recreational boating on the Outer Banks, county Commissioner Clarence Skinner said.
Officials also warn that storm-related flooding would be far more severe if sound waters could not flow to the ocean through the inlet. The stability of Herbert C. Bonner Bridge, the sole connection for Hatteras Island to the mainland, is also threatened by the narrowing of the passage.
In Raleigh, Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. has said that if federal lawmakers authorize the project, the state ``will find the money one way or the other.''
Several people who attended the Dare meeting Tuesday expressed gratitude for Hunt's support and skepticism about Washington coming through.
``I do know that having gone through the channel like 65 times this year, we can't wait two years,'' Arvin Midgett, an Oregon Inlet charter boat captain, told the commissioners. ``The north side is getting closer to the channel. It's not going to remain open. Regardless of the path you take, we don't have two years to play with. The current is so great because of the narrow passage. It can only help undermine, undermine, undermine what's there already.''
Skinner said the federal agencies have had the Oregon Inlet on their plate for 26 years and have done little more than drag their feet.
``Promises were made and broken,'' he said.
``I think we need to press to make sure that the people at the federal level wake up to the fact that they are messing around with something that is vital to our people at the local level,'' Skinner said.
Bob Peele, Hunt's liaison to the Oregon Inlet stabilization project, said the bipartisan support the project has received is important, but he said it is important to refute arguments that were made Thursday against the project.
``It's just been a long, long, hard boondoggle,'' board Chairman R.V ``Bobby'' Owens Jr. said.
Citizens who would like their comments about S-988, the Oregon Inlet Protection Act of 1995, inserted in the Senate hearing record should write before Aug. 1 to: Senate Subcommittee of Parks, Historic Preservation, and Recreation; Rm. 354, Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.; Washington, D.C. 20510. by CNB