Sent to Cape Charles Mirror via Anonymous Post. We are posting it here because many, many folks, including the Mirror, have experienced this.

Friday 9/21/2018 after lunch at the beautifully renovated Northampton Hotel , I walked over to the head of the fishing pier .

Standing by the flagpole the breeze was from the southeast and it smelled like an open sewer . It was foul .

I have seen similar postings in The Mirror and denials .

I’m reporting this because I really value Cape Charles . It’s an important part of my life and I want Cape Charles to continue to thrive .

However , if there is a serious plan to remedy this serious problem , I have seen no signs of one yet .

Special to the Mirror by Chas Cornweller

So, the lasting effects of Hurricane Florence and its devastation on the ecology of North Carolina is now just beginning. I am speaking of the double whammy of coal ash and hog lagoons toxic waste spillage into the Cape Fear River basin. The citizens of North Carolina worst nightmare of ecological responsibility and environmental cleanup. And, alas, it is the citizen that will suffer the consequences for the months and the years of cleanup ahead. Areas that once were vast recreational fishing grounds and family campsites are now inundated with a toxic brew of poisons that will leach into the groundwater systems and lakes, most likely rendering these areas useless and uninhabitable for years. Make no mistake about that assessment. Cleanup alone will rise into the hundreds of millions of tax-payer dollars. The unthinkable has happened.

Pink ponds, like the one seen here, are common on hog farms throughout North Carolina. The ponds, called hog lagoons, collect the animals’ feces and are used for waste management.
Rodrigo Gutierrez/Reuters

Duke Energy has used the river basin area for storage of its toxic by-product for decades. Only recently have they been held responsible for a more stringent storage system of lagoons and permanently sealed bottoms to contain the toxic brew of mercury, arsenic, lead and many other caustic compositions. Once introduced into the potable water system, fly ash by-product will lead to cancer and other health-related issues to anyone using well water from this system. The river basin system is approximately six-eight plus thousand acres serving twenty-six counties and one hundred and fourteen municipalities containing over two million souls. The river serves industries, transportation, recreation, drinking water, and aesthetic enjoyment. In February 2014, a Duke Energy coal ash basin flooded when a stormwater pipe cracked open, dumping 39,000 tons of coal ash into the Dan River. The company later pleaded guilty to criminal negligence. There are no figures at this time on how much has reached the Cape Fear River, but numerous storage lagoons have overflowed as of Tuesday, September 18, 2018.

Another source of Carolina’s despair is the farming practices of waste storage of hog urine and feces. During Hurricane Floyd in 1999, hog lagoons across the eastern part of North Carolina broke open and dumped tons of liquid and solid waste into the storm waters. That material flowed downstream, eventually settling in coastal estuaries. It was blamed for elevated nitrogen and phosphorous levels, algae blooms, and fish kills. After this storm, North Carolina put moratoriums on building new farms and bought out forty-three hog operations located in the floodplain and either moved or eliminated another one hundred and three waste lagoons. All lagoons were required to be re-engineered for stability. As of September 18, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality said it had received reports of discharges or overtopping of lagoons at seven locations. Four others had been inundated by floodwaters. These lagoons are the size of football fields.

My point of all this? North Carolina will now spend the next few years (decades?) and hundreds of millions (Billions?) of dollars trying to fix, or negate, or modify systems that should have and could have been built to minimize environmental risks. And if that system cannot sustain and maintain a reasonable safety factor in a high-risk area, then it need not be there in the first place. But, not only was it there but those whose responsibility to ensure its ability to maintain and contain its contents to protect the populace and their environment; failed. The political leaders whose responsibility to ensure that adequate measures be taken to assure the same; failed. The corporate managers and engineers that serve them; failed. All three legs on the public service stool were rotten to the core and that stool; failed. Farmers will be held responsible for the flooding and failure of their lagoons and will suffer, financially. They will literally pay, while in actuality, they were only playing by the rules mandated by the state. Taxpayers will literally pay for the clean-up of the fly ash for years to come. And, IF Duke Energy is fined, that cost will be passed on to the energy using public. Corporate leaders will hold the bottom line and deflect the costs while they hold politicians at bay. And politicians will pontificate and deflect the blame away while passing on the costs on to their constituency. You see, it’s all a game to them. You and I end up paying the cost. Whether it’s with our health, or our tax dollars and our futures. Does not matter to them. The sad price of Hurricane Florence is not only the loss of life and property but the loss of public support from those that hold our futures in their hands. But, if your future and my future doesn’t fit the bottom line, well, I am afraid it just doesn’t count so much.

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The Eastern Shore Health District announces two special free seasonal flu vaccination clinics.

The free flu shot clinics will be held on Tuesday, October 2, 2018, from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. at Accomack County Health Department and Northampton County Health Department. These free seasonal flu clinics are highly recommended for those who do not have insurance or who have insurance that will not cover the flu vaccine. The number of flu shots available under this free program is limited and available for those 18 years and older only; therefore, flu shots will be given on a first come, first served basis.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends a yearly flu vaccine for everyone 6 months of age and older as the first and most important step in protecting yourself against the flu. While anyone can get the flu and problems related to the flu, some people are at greater risk of serious illness and even death. It is strongly recommended that people who are at high risk be sure to get the flu vaccine. These include:

– People of any age with certain chronic medical conditions
– Pregnant women
– People who live with or care for those at high risk for complications from flu, including:
– Healthcare personnel
– Household contacts of persons at high risk for complications from the flu
– Close contacts of children less than 6 months of age (these children are too young to be vaccinated)

Contact the Accomack County Health Department at 787-5880 or 824-5616 or the Northampton County Health Department at 442-6228 for any questions regarding these special seasonal flu vaccination clinics. For more information about the flu, please visit https://www.cdc.gov/flu/.

Accomack County Health Department Northampton County Health Department
23191 Front Street 7114 Lankford Highway
Accomac, VA 23301 Nassawadox, VA 23413

Special to the Mirror By Karen Gravelle

A local group has formed The University of the Eastern Shore of Virginia Foundation to promote 4-year college on Virginia’s Eastern Shore; it is anticipated it will evolve into a full university granting post-graduate degrees.

In addition to the educational advantages for students on the Shore, a 4-year institution would provide tremendous benefits in other ways, including a greater awareness nationwide of the unique attractions of the Eastern Shore, well-paid jobs, expanded cultural activities, and the increase in spin-off businesses and enhanced real estate values that will accompany the influx of people and money from the rest of Virginia, other states, and other countries.

As the group (started by Terry Malarkey of Onancock) points out, despite the presence of NASA Wallops Flight Facilities and Space Port in Lower Delmarva and the shipbuilding industry in the Hampton Roads, there is currently no nationally renowned, focused, engineering school within easy access. The proposed university will focus specifically on STEM-H (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Health) in order to take advantage of the well-paid employment opportunities in those areas.

While the establishment of a 4-year institution of higher learning on the Shore may seem like an up-hill battle to some, rural areas with far fewer advantages in terms of location and attractions have managed to do so. One example is the University of Virginia’s College at Wise, VA. The group asks, “If they can do it? Why can’t we?”

Malarkey says that the idea of a 4-year institution here on the Shore has met with much optimism, but some skepticism too, particularly as regards the Eastern Shore Community College.

In replying to the concern that the presence of a 4-year school would eventually spell the end of ESCC and its Workforce Development Center, Malarkey responds, “Absolutely not. The two forms of higher education serve very different purposes. Not everyone needs or wants a 4-year degree, and the option to transfer would be open to ESCC students who wish to complete their undergraduate studies right here on the Shore.”

The decreasing enrollment at ESCC has raised the question of the viability of a 4-year university. However, that drop in enrollment is due to several factors: ESCC students come from only our 2 Eastern Shore counties, both of which continue to experience a shrinking population; increased employment rates have traditionally resulted in decreased enrollment; and dual enrollment, which permits students to take college courses while still in high school, has removed some of the incentive to complete a full 2 years at a community college. In contrast, a 4-year college offering the right courses and affiliated with an established university, such as Virginia Tech, will attract students from other counties, other states, and other countries.

For more information on the proposed “Shore U” and how to become involved, see the Foundation’s website at: www.EShoreU.org