SOUTHERN SHORES – Cliff Ogburn, Southern Shores Town manager, presented another presentation on bombs that might be buried in the town.
It was strange, but it was “Outer Banks Strange.” Strange like side-of-the-highway historical markers recounting German submarines sinking U.S. shipsCoast. Strange, commercial fisherman trawling scallops. A live torpedo instead. Strange like locals Doorstops made of sand-filled bombs
You live on 200-miles of barrier islands that were sparsely populated in World War II, making them ideal for military target practice. A lot of things are odd, and a lot strange things get washed up, buried and discovered.
The bombs Ogburn mentioned at the meeting were left behind Southern Shores Training SiteThe Navy used this area of land and water to bomb, strafe and launch rockets from the early 1940s until 1945.
Today, the site is home of Southern Shores, a tourist-driven town. The year-round population of just 3,000 people rises to 10,000 in the summer. Chicahauk is a residential neighborhood located close to the former training area. This plot, originally called Target #29, covers 50 acres.
It was 1993 when someone reported the last discovery of explosives or munitions of concern in Southern Shores. This was the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is the government agency responsible for managing this site.
Ogburn was not there to discuss explosives. Ogburn was there for discussion about environmental contamination.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Southern Shores site’s surface water is contaminated with antimony, copper and lead, as well as 2-nitrotoluene (and 3-nitrotoluene), which are solvents used in bomb-making. a 2017 ProPublica investigationThis analysis was done using data from the Department of Defense.
While a remedial investigation has not been scheduled for 2040 experts state that another study is required sooner to determine if contaminants pose a risk to human or ecological health.
Two branches and one swamp
The former Southern Shores Training Area is now part of the Program for Formerly Used Defense SitesThis program cleans up environmental contamination at properties that were formerly owned, leased or possessed by the military. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages the program.
The Corps signed a contract with the Corps in 2006. ParsonsAn infrastructure engineering firm was hired to study Target #29, and the surrounding areas. Researchers collected 10 soil samples as well as two samples of groundwater and surface water. The surface water samples came from Cypress Pond in Chicahauk, a cypress swamp. The results indicated that the surface waters were contaminated. Additional research was recommended.
The Human Health Risk Assessment concluded there are potential human health risks from mercury and 2-nitrotoluene found in soil and water. The study reported. The Screening Level Ecological Risk Assessment concluded there were ecological health risks associated with Munitions Constituents in the water surface, as lead and zinc had exceeded ecological screening value (ESVs). Lead and zinc cannot be directly attributed because no samples of ambient surface water were collected.
In 2017, ProPublica published “Bombs in Your Backyard, “An investigation into toxic pollution from ex-military sites in the United States. ProPublica used Freedom of Information Act to get data as recent 2015 from the Defense Environmental Restoration Program, which includes FUDS Program. According to 2015 data the contaminants pose a high risk for human and ecological health in Southern Shores’ surface water.
According to the Associated Press, the site won’t be restudied again until 2040. A 2019 report From the Army Corps of Engineers.
There are more that 7,000 defense sites in the United States, and around 2,700 are suspected of contamination. The yearly average Congressional appropriations for FUDS have been around $250 million. Since 2017, $150,000 has been spent on Southern Shores site evaluation. An estimated $8.3million is expected to be spent by 2046. ProPublica.
Carl Dokter, FUDS Program Manager for North Carolina, stated that the delay in the Army Corps revisiting Southern Shores was due to the costliness and large volume of other sites that pose greater dangers to public safety and environmental health.
Dokter stated, “Just to give you an overview, right now in my area I have probably upwards to 40 to 50 projects, several hundreds million dollars worth work.
Rachel Noble, assistant director at the Institute for the Environment, Morehead City, stated that it is difficult to determine the extent of contamination to human and ecological health without further research at the Southern Shores site.
Noble stated that I believe that most of these contaminants can move from one place or another once they are in mixed aquatic and sand environments like a Cypress swamp. They’re not going to stay put, so to speak.
According to the 2006 study no drinking water is available because Southern Shores gets its water from an underground aquifer just two towns away in Kill Devil Hills. Noble stated that she is more concerned about the ecosystem impacts.
Noble stated that there are organisms that live in those cypress swamps and within those sediments. These organisms are likely to be impacted. At the same time, even though I’m saying that, the cancer risk associated with some of the compounds that are found in munitions are quite high. So, you know, it’s hard to say. It’s not something that I would shrug off.
Noble stated that the next step should involve a follow up study by an agency other than the Army Corps of Engineers such as a third party analytical laboratory.
Brent McKee, UNC-Chapel Hill’s director of graduate studies in marine science, stated that 2-nitrotoluene is the most concerning because it is carcinogenic. It cannot be evaporated, so it would have to physically be removed from the environment.
McKee stated that 18 more years is too long to study the site’s effects, mainly due to 2-nitrotoluene. All that said, I can also tell you that there is very little data about the human effects of 2-nitrotoluene. Reports such as this one downplay the danger of 2-nitrotoluene’s immediate effects due to lack of direct evidence.
The Southern Shores site can be found right now at Interim Risk Management phase, Dokter said. Dokter said that every five years, the Army Corps would be subject to this initiative. Mail a letterLandowners being informed that their land is part a FUDS.
He stated that the Interim Risk Management initiative is limited to munitions and explosives of serious concern. Groundwater contamination sites, as well as soil contamination sites, are not addressed by the mailings.
Dokter stated that it was designed to deal with explosive hazards. It’s not intended to leave anyone in the dark. I believe the policy does what it was intended to do.
Moving forward
At the end of Ogburns three-and-a-half-minute presentation, there was only one follow up comment from the town council.
Southern Shores Mayor Elizabeth Morey said that residents are welcome to call the town hall with any questions or concerns.
Ogburn, unaware of the contamination until a February interview with UNC Media Hub, stated that he would like the site to again be studied as soon as possible. However, he also knows that there are other sites in UNC’s FUDS Program that are more concerning.
Ogburn stated that the priority of the town is to provide residents with as much information and visitors with as possible.
There’s a lot of government regulations and regulatory authorities that have oversight of our natural resources and we depend on them to make sure they’re watchdogging these types of facilities and these types of chemicals, Ogburn said. I didn’t think that I would have to dig as deep as I did to find out, What is the concern here?
UNC Media CenterArabella Saunders, a senior from Southern Shores, is a journalist and English major. Layna Hong, a senior Charlotte majoring in journalism as well as Global Studies, is an example of a senior.
