State and federal law-enforcement officials raided several offices of the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division on Thursday. FBI, Environmental Protection Agency, and SBI officials remained in the division headquarters in Morehead City the entire day, and took computers and other records, sources said.
“We are aware that officials visited the Ferry Division. Obviously we cannot comment on an ongoing investigation,” DOT spokesman Bill Jones told Carolina Journal.
The raids were related to an investigation of possible illegal dredging performed by Ferry Division employees, sources said. The dredging occurred in May in the Currituck Sound near Corolla. The activity is associated with the establishment of a passenger service from Corolla to Currituck. Several state and federal agencies are investigating the incident. They are trying to determine whether the dredging was an accident, and if not, who gave the order.
News reports about the dredging first surfaced in early July, when Jan DeBlieu, Cape Hatteras coastkeeper with the North Carolina Coastal Federation, issued a press release. Ferry Division Director Jerry Gaskill told news reporters that the dredging was an accident and happened when the boat got stuck marking the channel. The new channel is estimated to be 700 feet in length, 30 feet wide, and 5 to 6 feet deep. Previously the area was 2 feet deep. The N.C. Division of Coastal Management issued NCDOT a violation notice June 28 for dredging without a permit.
Ferry Division employee Bill R. Moore has claimed responsibility for the activities. Moore, whose title is superintendent of dredge and field maintenance, was the supervisor on site when the dredging occurred. He said he and other employees did not “kick a channel” with the boat’s propellers, but were marking a channel. He is based at the Cherry Branch ferry terminal on the Neuse River near Havelock. He refused to comment when contacted by a reporter at his office the day after the raids. He reports directly to Ferry Division Director Jerry Gaskill. Moore lives in Oriental and also serves on the Pamlico County Board of Commissioners.
In a June 24 e-mail to the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Moore gave the following account of the incident: On May 20, three Ferry Division work vessels were used to place new, and replace existing markers in the established boat channel to the N. C. Wildlife and Currituck County boat docks in Corolla. When one of the boats that came to pick him up at the Corolla dock hit the bottom, he instructed the operator, deckhand Stephen Smith, to continue to the dock. Later, after Smith’s boat developed mechanical problems, his boat was secured to one of the other boats, and they finished marking the channel on the third boat. Moore acknowledged that Smith’s boat “incurred some resistance while turning around at the dock.” Reached at his home in Atlantic, Smith refused to discuss the incident.
Earlier this month, Jones told CJ that employees at the site acted independently while working in the Corolla Channel. As previously reported by CJ, state and local officials knew dredging would be required, but proceeded with the project without the proper permits.
The plan is for a 50-foot, 50-passenger pontoon boat with an enclosed cabin to run between the Currituck County Outer Banks and the Currituck mainland. Unless the boat gets stuck in the shallow Currituck Sound, it will be a 10-mile, 25-minute ride.
Currituck County officials said the ferry service was necessary because students living on the Currituck County section of the Outer Banks would no longer be able to attend Dare County schools because of crowding. They said the bus ride entirely by land was too long. With State Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight of Dare County as the driving force, the N.C. General Assembly appropriated $834,000 in June 2003 for the project. Annual operating costs are estimated to be more than $400,000.
Forty students were initially expected to use the ferry, however Currituck school officials said last week that now only 10 students would be involved this year. The school crowding issue could be resolved next year when a new elementary school is completed in Dare County. The ferry would not be needed if the two school systems returned to their previous agreement.
While the project was touted as necessary for the students, representatives of the Sanderling Inn Resort had an interest in the ferry. They have sought an alternative way to get housekeepers and other workers to the resort. Documents show resort officials had met with Ferry Division officials and approved the route.
After several delays, the ferry vessel, which was built in Florida, arrived in Dare County this week. CJ was unable to determine when the service would start.
Carrington is associate publisher of Carolina Journal. Read his previous stories on the ferry division here and here