COURTLAND
On Friday morning, Southampton County Sheriff J.B. “Jack” Stutts volunteered the services of inmate labor to get started on the cleanup of the large amount of Styrofoam littering a section of the Nottoway River near Vick’s Island.

“By 5 p.m. on Friday [April 17], we anticipate that 25 percent of the debris — approximately 10 bags — at the two worst locations will have been removed by inmate labor supervised by two deputies,” Stutts said, adding that there were four inmates on location Friday. “Deputies will continue to have inmates cleaning debris at these locations through the weekend to remove as much as possible before the rain that is anticipated early next week.”

Maj. Gene Drewery with the sheriff’s office said more inmate manpower would be dedicated to the project over the weekend.

The Styrofoam came from the property owned by David Fowler Jr. and John Wayne Fowler Sr. off of River Road, said Community Development Director Donald Goodwin. The Styrofoam was placed in the flood plain with concrete and bricks as fill to shore up land that had been damaged during hunting season. When it flooded, the mixed-in Styrofoam floated to the top and was carried down river.

Goodwin would not go into what fines might be assessed, except to say that it is an ongoing investigation.

“A cleanup agreement, at this point, is the best and quickest remedy,” he said. “At the end of the day, what we want is to have the river cleaned up. Whatever legal action we pursue can be done at a later time.”

By Friday evening, Fowler had signed an agreement with the county to hire a crew to begin cleaning the river, said Courtland attorney John “Jack” Randall. Fowler hired Randall to work with County Attorney Richard Railey to draft an initial document.

“David Fowler is cooperating fully with the authorities of Southampton County,” Randall said. “My client is currently engaged in the cleanup effort trying to remove any debris that is related to this incident.”

Fowler has 14 days to complete the cleanup. Randall said though Fowler owns the property with his brother, John Wayne Fowler Sr. had no knowledge that this was taking place.

The materials are alleged to come from the H.P. Beale and Sons meat packing plant on Ivor Road. Demolition of the long-abandoned building occurred earlier this year, and was carried out by Old Dominion Demolition of Portsmouth. Gene Beale Jr., the owner of the former packing plant, hired Fowler to haul away the debris on site.

Rather than wait on the attorneys to complete the agreement, County Administrator Mike Johnson worked with Sheriff Stutts to ensure that as much Styrofoam was removed as possible before the river could potentially rise. Currently, the packing material is being held in place by a grouping of logs north of Courtland.

“It was important to get started on that as soon as possible,” Johnson said. “We wanted to make an effort to at least put a dent in it.”

Riverkeeper Jeff Turner first reported the Styrofoam to the Department of Environmental Quality last week. DEQ then subsequently contacted the county and an investigation was started this past Friday.