various conditions. Beach com- 

 munities and other populated coastal 

 areas would be "mapped." The goal is 

 to develop a numerical model that 

 would predict, given the position and 

 characteristics of an approaching 

 hurricane, what coastal areas would 

 likely be submerged. 



The information will have several 

 direct applications. Communities will 

 be able to use it to plan evacuation 

 routes for their citizens. It will help 

 state and local officials strengthen 

 building codes and land-use manage- 

 ment plans. And it will be useful in the 

 application of federal flood insurance 

 regulations. 



The research will fit nicely into Sea 

 Grant's effort to create an awareness 

 of weather hazards in coastal areas. 

 This year, a coastal weather awareness 

 specialist will join the ranks of Sea 

 Grant's Marine Advisory Service. 

 Working with the National Weather 

 Service, the specialist will focus 

 research results and help communities 

 plan ways to protect the lives and 

 property of their residents. 



Less dramatic but perhaps just as 



serious as hurricane flooding is the 

 problem of septic tanks in sandy 

 coastal soils. On the Outer Banks, 

 where the water table is high and the 

 soils are porous, it is difficult to find a 

 site on which a conventional septic 

 system works. Too often, such systems 

 fail, allowing effluent to spoil 

 groundwater or to seep into sounds 

 and estuaries, where it contaminates 

 fishing grounds. 



Because ocean outfalls and sewage 

 treatment plants are usually too ex- 

 pensive for small communities, 

 preventing the use of a septic tank has 

 meant preventing the development of 

 a property in many areas. 



This year and next, a Sea Grant 

 research team with a record of success 

 on other difficult soils will study the 

 problems and, perhaps, prescribe some 

 solutions. 



The study will follow up on work 

 done by Bobby Carlile of the NCSU 

 soil science department. With Sea 

 Grant support, Carlile has developed 

 two modified septic systems — one 

 built into a mound and the other em- 

 ploying a low-pressure pump — that 



work effectively in many areas where 

 conventional systems have failed 

 because of poor soils. Carlile's 

 associate, Craig Cogger of NCSU, will 

 set up a demonstration site on the 

 southern North Carolina coast and 

 test both modified systems to see how 

 each performs in the coarse sands of 

 barrier islands. Cogger will get help 

 from Mark Sobsey of the University of 

 North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC- 

 CH), who has been conducting a Sea 

 Grant project on enteric viruses in 

 shellfish. 



Coastal management officials are 

 waiting for the study to help them 

 make sound judgments about develop- 

 ment on the islands. And, if good alter- 

 natives are found, some failing systems 

 might be replaced, protecting coastal 

 waters from at least some of the pollu- 

 tion from island communities. 



Dealing with any complex coastal 

 issue — including such things as 

 hurricane preparedness and sewage 

 treatment — usually involves at least 

 one legal or public-policy angle. 



Finding expertise in coastal law and 

 planning is a problem, not only for the 



