WHITE LAKE — Mayoral candidate Gray Marshburn told supporters Monday evening of his plan to enable White Lake to survive.
Marshburn welcomed about three dozen to his meeting, telling them of incremental steps toward survival that need to be taken. He said the town’s mayor and its commissioners have not taken enough action and have been slow to do anything.
Marshburn said he doesn’t want to wait for the election Nov. 5 before filing a lawsuit to do another alum treatment. He also told residents about a leaky sewer system and pledged to fix it, said sea birds that contribute “poop” pollution need to be scared away, and asked those attending a Sept. 12 meeting hosted by the town to go and request resignations of the elected officials.
In his opening remarks, Marshburn told the group, “If all they do is the workshops planned, you will not swim in White Lake next summer.”
Marshburn said he’s spent the last 20 months doing research daily on the lake, finding reports, talking to scientists and trying to determine its ills. He said he met at length with Stephen D. Coggins, a partner in the century-old Wilmington firm of Rountree Losee, and believes there’s a winnable lawsuit against the state of North Carolina.
The state is the owner of White Lake. Marshburn, in a handout to those attending, says “the two candidates competing for the mayor’s office could not differ more.”
But one point he and Mayor Goldston Womble have agreed on is the failure of the state to act helping maintain the health of the lake. Womble has pointed that out at multiple commissioners meetings, noting how the town had to pay for research and action taken thus far to the tune of about three-quarters of a million dollars.
Marshburn, talking to other scientists, is in disagreement with what that research has found. He also says he has talked to the state’s auditor and was told “the town was fleeced” by a report from Belinda Henson and Trent Allen titled “White Lake: What the pH happened?”
Henson and Allen are listed on the 2015 document as being with the Division of Water Resources in the Fayetteville regional office.
Marshburn said the state auditor told him the actions of the mayor and commissioners “were fraudulent.” He also said the report was withheld from residents.
Marshburn was joined in addressing the gathering by Bo Barefoot, a concerned resident of the lake who regularly attends and speaks at commissioners’ meetings. Barefoot, who moved here about 18 months ago, said he doesn’t endorse Marshburn or Womble but simply has an interest in the health of the lake.
Both men spoke for about 30-plus minutes each, and Marshburn answered questions for about 20 minutes to close the 90-minute session.
Barefoot said a lower pH water in the lake is the cure for its cancer. He said he didn’t have the answer to achieving that, but he did support some of the action items the mayoral candidate presented and offered his endorsement of the science and research Marshburn had gathered.
Barefoot and several in the audience are hoping an effort is made to try and locate the aquifers and springs that fed White Lake for years, believing that could be a significant factor in the lake’s future health.
Marshburn and Womble are the only candidates for mayor in White Lake. The town has no early voting period.
