Huge fine looms in dredging case

Illegal 'prop wash' dredging of Currituck Sound by DOT prompts feds to seek fine of $27,500 a day for 16 months

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CORRECTION

A story in the City & State section Wednesday incorrectly reported that an illegally dredged channel in Currituck County lasted from May 6, 2004, to Sept. 27, 2005. The U.S. Attorney's Office said the time period was May 6, 2004, to Sept. 27, 2004.

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The federal government is seeking stiff penalties from the state Department of Transportation and former employees accused of digging an illegal ferry channel in Currituck Sound four years ago.

A complaint filed recently in U.S. District Court in Raleigh said the dredging violated federal pollution control laws. The complaint seeks $27,500 for each day of the violation from May 6, 2004, when the work began, to Sept. 27, 2005, when the area was restored.

According to the complaint, state workers used propeller wash from work boats to dig a channel for a pontoon boat ferry to run across the sound. The ill-fated ferry plan was scrapped and the boat, declared surplus property, remains idle at the state shipyard in Manns Harbor in Dare County.

In addition to the Department of Transportation, defendants include Jerry Gaskill of Cedar Island, former director of the state ferry system, and Billy R. Moore, former superintendent of dredging and maintenance for the ferry system.

Lisa Crawley, a spokeswoman for the transportation department, said officials could not comment on pending litigation.

Gaskill and Moore were previously fined $5,000, sentenced to three years of probation and six months of house arrest on criminal charges stemming from the work. Moore had pleaded guilty to ordering the work. Gaskill pleaded not guilty and was convicted of making false statements to investigators -- an accusation he denied.

The complaint, prepared by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Raleigh, said the "prop wash" from the boats scoured a channel 730 feet long, 30 feet wide and five feet deep. The state spent about $600,000 to restore the area near the Whalehead Club at Corolla on the Outer Banks.

The work was part of an effort to accommodate the ferry between the Outer Banks and the mainland in Currituck County. State and county officials established the ferry initially to carry students who live on the Outer Banks to schools on the mainland. Plans called for the ferry to make a 10.5-mile run across the sound, eliminating a school bus ride of up to two hours for some students.

But the county did not obtain a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers for the proposed dock site.

The state, which paid about $277,000 for the pontoon boat, tried unsuccessfully to sell the 50-foot vessel on eBay.