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Geologist tells Polk 40-percent slope increases landslide chance
Published 5:00pm Tuesday, July 17, 2012The Polk County Planning Board heard facts about landslides during a July 12 meeting, as well as a geologist’s opinion that a 40-percent slope is the point at which the chances of a landslide increase.
Rick Wooten, senior geologist for geohazards and engineering geology with the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Division of Land Resources, presented data from past landslides around the state. Wooten said landslide damage and losses can be avoided. He said most insurance policies do not cover damage to homes from landslides.
Since 1916, there have been at least 46 deaths in North Carolina related to landslides, according to Wooten’s data. Between 1990 and 2011, 57 landslides occurred in the state, resulting in six fatalities, with 40 structures destroyed or condemned and 24 structures damaged.
Studies also show that between 1990 and 2011 there was one fatality and 24 structures were destroyed or condemned as a result of landslides on slopes altered by human activity, or on modified slopes.
Approximately 52 locations in Polk County have had landslide activity, Wooten said. He mentioned the Saluda grade railroad that gave way in 2004 and the instability of Chocolate Drop Mountain.
He also said recurring weather patterns trigger landslides in western North Carolina. For example, he said, landslides can be expected when an area receives 5 inches of rain in a 24-hour period.
The biggest storm known in Watauga County occurred in 1940 and triggered 1,200 landslides and 14 deaths. Wooten said tracking past landslide data is important to see where they occurred. He said since 1940 in Watauga County 136 structures have been built in the tracks of the landslide.
Other landslide areas were reviewed, including Maggie Valley, where Wooten said there were some warning signs prior to a slide. He said a 2010 landslide took a two-story house and “turned it into sticks.”
There were about 400 landslides in western North Carolina during the heavy rains of Hurricanes Frances and Ivan in 2004, Wooten said.
“The good news is it’s not all that hard to avoid damage from landslides,” Wooten told the planning board. “It’s kind of pay now or pay later.”
The planning board asked Wooten at what point of slope planners need to start being concerned.
Wooten said at 40 percent (or 22 degrees) is when there begins to be an increase for slides.
“That’s not to say all 40 percent slopes are unstable,” Wooten said. “That’s the point the stability can be affected. A lot of times it’s a combination of things.”
The planning board has been struggling to determine an exact slope at which restrictions should be placed on building. The planning board is working to draft a unified development ordinance (UDO) that combines all the county’s ordinances, including its mountainside and ridgeline protection ordinance (MRPO), which formerly placed restrictions on any commercial building above 1,650 feet in elevation.
A UDO committee approved a draft UDO ordinance earlier this year that eliminated the elevation restrictions in the MRPO and asked the planning board to replace elevation with slope restrictions. The slope that has been considered previously is 30 percent. Restrictions may include requiring geological and soil studies prior to building.
Planning board member Wayne Horne, who chaired last week’s meeting, said the board is trying to determine at what slope the county will require engineering.
“What we’re trying to do is determine the slope factor before engineering kicks in,” Horne said. “Why we’re doing this is if you have a mountain property, we’re trying to get you to (build) on the 30-percent side instead of the 60-percent side.”
The planning board will adopt a recommended UDO ordinance and send it to the Polk County Board of Commissioners for final adoption. Commissioners will be required to hold a public hearing prior to adopting the final UDO.
The planning board’s next workshop will be next Wednesday, July 25 at 5 p.m.
The problem in this entire issue is lost credibility in regards to use of the supporting data by the geologist who did a fine professional job. It is a long, long list and the planning board interprets this correctly as a problem and sets the 40 per cent slope rule. The catch is local politics ignores the fact of life that at least half of that geologist’s list of mudslides was created NOT by private citizen activity but the activity of local government including state roads, local roads, railroads imposed on us and in at least one case a very likely created landslide by local government in order to obtain a FEMA grant which was not used to repair that landslide but to beautify Harmon Field. No planning board you need to go back to the drawing board on your supporting criteria. Using supporting data must include all the details surrounding your justifications. It is not ethical to impose further rules on local citizens based on past created mudslides by local government. Not very difficult for us as citizens to figure out our government does not, will not, never has and never will abide by the laws you impose upon us the public. You will do what you always done, regulate us as citizens while you break your own laws. History repeats in the case of mudslides too. And I still predict that one at MP 39 will happen again.
PROPOSED SOLUTION. Already refused many times by the planning board and POlk County Commission is the only solution available to the most gross and dangerous erosion and potential danger from future mudslides and floods disaster in the Pacolet Valley. The closest our current board came to practical action to serve the public was to rescend their resolution of support for rails to trails. On the steep slopes of the Saluda grade up the Pacolet river valley area removal of the tracks and lost maintenance by Norfolk Southern on our rail corridor would be a disaster. Anyone who walks up to MP 39 area and sees the tracks hanging in the sky realizes the ribbon of steel is all that holds that mountain together. Built across the mountain on the far steeper than the 40-percent slope mentioned grades, clearly any practical observer who bothers to actually go and see it, must agree the greatest potential for disaster in our POlk county future will lie with proposed fruition of the rails to trails/railbanking plan. Down on flat areas it would not be a problem. The planning board, IF THEY ARE REALLY INTERESTED IN EROSION PROBLEMS AND FUTURE SAFETY ABOUT MUD SLIDES, SHOULD IMMEDIATELY DRAFT A RESOLUTION OF SUPPORT, PRESENT IT TO THE COMMISSION FOR ACTION, AND FOLLOW UP WITH NORFOLK SOUTHERN RAILROAD TO ENCOURAGE A RETURN TO FULL SERVICE AND MAINTENANCE ON THE POLK COUNTY RAIL CORRIDOR. FURTHER, LOCAL BUSINESS AND THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, IN THE INTEREST OF SAFETY AND COMMERCE, SHOULD SEARCH FOR RAIL BUSINESS TO ALLOW MERCHANDISE TO BE SHIPPED INTO POLK AND STAY HERE. ONE RAIL CAR OF SAND, GRAVEL, OR YOU NAME IT IS WORTH FAR, FAR MORE TO POLK THAN ALL THE RAILS TO TRAILS COULD EVER COME TO IN TERMS OF COMMERCE. THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND THE TOWN GOVERNMENTS OF SALUDA AND TRYON, IN THEIR SUPPORT OF RAILS TO TRAILS, HAVE FORGOTTEN ABOUT WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO EROSION AND THE MUDSLIDE HAZARDS IF THE RAILS COME OUT. THE RAIL CORRIDOR IS HERE, HAS BEEN HERE OVER 130 YEARS NOW, AND THE ONLY HOPE FOR CONTROLLING EROSION AND MUDSLIDES ON THE RAIL CORRIDOR IS A RETURN TO FULL RAIL SERVICE. THE LIVES OF OUR CITIZENS IN PACOLET VALLEY DEPEND UPON THIS ACTION. SO PLANNING BOARD, YOUR FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS IS THE BIGGEST THREAT. ENOUGH OF DODGING THE ISSUE AND DO WHAT IS RIGHT FOR POLK.
Much of this article continually refers to history, but leaves out the historical fact Polk County politics throughout history as continually USED every mudslide, flood event to its political advantage with remarkable attention to expediant fact reporting, leaving out the details which point to another broader viewpoint and reaching differing conclusions. A fine example is the one of Chocolate Drop disaster which turned against a local developer imposing fines and spreading disgust for the matter over the news. Simultaneously, a far more dangerous slide at MP 39 area on Saluda grade railroad was hushed up because it met local politcal goals. In the case of the still there railroad slide it came down off the easement and nearly reached the river which if it did block the river could have led to a far, far greater disaster with loss of lives. That potential still exists if another slide happens at that location, which it most likely will happen at some point. When reached about the matter, the Federal inspector managment which stands between the public and railroad, said the railroad had no responsibility and the rail corridor had been “Railbanked” in this area. Subsequently, the Surface Transportation board in person of Mr. Gabriel Meyer in Washington, D. C. which oversees our rail corridor, confirmed this federal official had lied, that the rail corridor in Polk is NOT RAILBANKED. SO, IF YOU FOLKS WANT TO TALK ABOUT MUDSLIDES IN POLK HOW ABOUT TREATING THEM ALL ALIKE AND TELL THE WHOLE STORY. USING MUD SLIDES TO ACCOMPLISH POLITCAL GOALS AND ADD ADDITIONAL REGULATIONS BECAUSE OF SLOPE IS NOTHING NEW. WHAT GOOD IS THE NEW REGULATION OTHER THAN RHETORIC? OUR LOCAL POLITICAL ANARCHY MAKES POLITICS OUT OF MUD AND IGNORES THE FACTS.
It seems amazing that over and over again the public is only given limited information repeatedly about events which have happened in Polk. It seems we are fed a steady diet of misinformation. Many coincidental matters seem to exist regarding the mentioned mudslide which left the railroad tracks hanging in the sky at MP 39 area on Saluda grade. Such as how this seemed to coincide perfectly with town resolutions and push regarding rails to trails. Such as how this slide just happened to be blamed on a 2004 storm when the truth of the matter was that the Town mountain water line was up the hill on the drainage area which caused the slide, mountain water was not being used by the town at the time, and it seems a leak was repaired there after the slide which had been leaking a long time and repair can still be seen. Such as why drainage had been changed to affect the matter and town had equipment in the area repeatedly, even using a contractor and bulldozer. Such as the simple fact after the 2004 storm the town immediately repaired damage and got federal money to repair downstream damage at Harmon field but did not attempt to repair the damage caused on the railroad easement and down off the easement. How the matter is ignored to this day with the potential still existing for another slide. Walk up the tracks and see for yourself the cracked off area waiting for another big gully washer rain. SO AS USUAL WE HAVE BEEN FED PART OF THE STORY AND THE PART ABOUT THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT CREATING PROBLEMS TO BE PART OF POLITICS LOCALLY IS ALWAYS LEFT OUT WHEN MAIN STREET TRYON SUCCEEDS FOR YEARS WITH ITS GRAND PLAN OF RAILS TO TRAILS.