Former North Carolina Department of Transportation business officer Charles Utz admitted in federal court yesterday that he prepared a letter claiming the dredging in the Currituck Sound was accidental even though he had already determined it was deliberate.
Utz was one of several witnesses called by federal prosecutors in the second day of the trial of former Ferry Division Director Jerry Gaskill, who is charged with illegal activities associated with the state’s efforts to establish a passenger ferry service across the shallow Currituck Sound. Prosecutors claim that Gaskill knew about the activity and lied to investigators about his role.
Utz resigned from the Ferry Division last year. While he was there, he said he usually drafted all of Gaskill’s correspondence. He said he reached his conclusion that the disturbance caused by work boats was not accidental after reviewing an aerial photograph. The channel is approximately 700 feet long, by 30 feet wide and 5 feet deep. Utz prepared, and Gaskill signed, the July 6, 2004 letter to federal officials who were investigating the dredging activity that took place on May 6 and 7, 2004. Utz said at the time it did not register with him that he was putting a false statement in writing.
Utz acknowledged dredging was required because the Corolla end of the route was extremely shallow, but he knew dredging could take place only after a state permit was obtained.
Gaskill has not taken the stand yet, but through his attorney claimed that subordinates conducted the illegal activities without his knowledge, and that he first learned on July 12, 2004 that their activities were not accidental.
Former superintendent of dredging and maintenance Bill Moore continued his testimony in the morning. Moore pleaded guilty last year and agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors. He has testified that the idea to use work boats to prop wash a channel was his and that in early 2004 he suggested it to Gaskill. Moore testified that he ordered a maintenance crew to perform the illegal prop washing without Gaskill’s knowledge. He said he informed Gaskill about it when it was completed on May 7, 2004.
In addition to Moore, three other Ferry Division employees, Herbert F. O’Neal, Douglas A. Bateman, and Stephen G. Smith have pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the dredging incident.
Rodney Gross, a marine quality assurance specialist in the Ferry Division, testified that he was in a meeting in early 2004 that included Gaskill, Moore and other division employees. Gross stated that Moore said “when he had the opportunity, after delivering parts there would be no need for dredging.”
Kathy Gail Sheets, an administrative assistant to Gaskill in 2004, testified that minutes she took of a May 11, 2004 meeting about the ferry project reflect Gaskill stating there was now enough water at Corolla.
Currituck County Manager Daniel Scanlon testified that Currituck County had accepted the responsibility of applying for a dredging permit, but as of May 2004 the county had not yet applied for one.
Federal prosecutors still have several witnesses to call and Gaskill’s attorney Thomas Manning submitted a list with the names of more than 30 people he may call. The trial is expected to continue through Friday.
Don Carrington is executive editor of Carolina Journal.