State tries to keep water line a secret

Can a two-mile water line be a terrorist target?

It's not just a well contaminated with benzene that state officials are concerned about in spending $740,000 to run a water line to four homes in Jackson County.

The state Department of Environment and Natural Resources denied The News & Observer access to maps and other records showing where the line would run. Laura Leonard, a spokeswoman for DENR's environmental health division, cited a provision in the public records law that she says classifies such records as "sensitive public security information."

"As public water systems are considered to be a public building or infrastructure facility, any detailed plans and drawings related to this project have been excluded," Leonard said in an e-mail message.

John Bussian, a lawyer and lobbyist for the N.C. Press Association, said that was a misinterpretation of the law, passed by state lawmakers after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.

DENR and the N.C. Rural Center are chipping in the money to build the water line after an extended family in four homes discovered that a shared well was contaminated with benzene, a cancer-causing chemical often found in petroleum products. The project appears to be by far the most expensive remedy, per household, for a contaminated drinking water supply in the state's history.

Bussian said the law is intended to keep secret security measures for public infrastructure, not maps and design plans.

Making maps and other construction plans of water lines available serves the public interest, he said, since they allow citizens to know who would benefit, and help track water usage.

"I would say that the right to know this information is tied into the accountability that the public deserves," Bussian said.

The Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority, which serves Jackson County and is overseeing the water line's construction, did provide a map showing the line's path.

Podiatrist for Senate?

A Moncure podiatrist will run for U.S. Senate.

Howard A. Staley, 52, says he will enter the Democratic primary against state Sen. Kay Hagan of Greensboro and Chapel Hill investment banker Jim Neal.

Staley said he wants to add his experiences as a doctor, patient and employer to the coming debate over health care in Congress. In particular, he argued that insurance companies are charging excessive fees at unsustainable levels.

A native of Philadelphia, he moved to Chatham County 26 years ago to work as a podiatrist. Having never run for public office before, he said he knows he faces an uphill battle. Cary graphic artist John Ross Hendrix and Lexington trucker Duskin Lassiter are also running as long-shot candidates.

"I know that it's a long shot," he told Dome, "but I wanted to offer myself up as a candidate."

Easley knows 'wassup'

Gov. Mike Easley apparently knows his beer ads.

Easley introduced pioneering civil rights journalist Chuck Stone at Friday's 27th annual State Employees' Martin Luther King Jr. Day Observance. He couldn't resist mentioning that Stone's son, Charles III, is one of the creators of the Budweiser "Wassup" commercials.

"Wassup, man," Easley said in a credible imitation of the commercial that drew laughter from the 400 people at the event. "You've got to say it like on TV."