UPDATED: Moore County eyes Century Farm for new Carthage Elementary School across from contaminated site

“NO SCHOOL” signs plague Vass-Carthage Road, one of the last remaining rural corridors lined with Century Farms after Moore County Schools sets sites on new Carthage Elementary School property.

Hammond Bennett said a school representative with operations knocked on his door and told him she was land searching.

Bennett said his Uncle Worth McDonald and cousin, Allison McDonald, told him the school had made a verbal offer, but it was low, and neighbors witnessed surveyors on the McDonald’s property.

“They are hot to trot,” Bennett said about his McDonald relatives being eager to sell when the property had not even been listed for sale.

Parcel 00004252 is about 32 acres north of the intersection of Joel Road and Vass-Carthage Road.

The parcel is surrounded by and is a Century Farm. It has heritage pine and oak trees, increasing its value as one of the last rural ambiance corridors.

Moore County Schools has not responded to emails or phone calls.

At the Sep. 2 Land Use Plans update, county commissioners vocalized the importance of preserving the county’s rural highway and byway corridors to preserve the ambiance for tourism, the leading financial enterprise for Moore County.

On Sep. 16, commissioners denied the first business proposal along a rural highway corridor to preserve the rural ambiance and to respect Little River Golf and Resort.

Vass-Carthage area residents hope commissioners will respect them should the 32 acres proposed site come to them for approval.

UPDATE: “I am disappointed that this is the area they are looking at. Carthage Elementary should stay in Carthage, period!” Moore County Commissioner Vice Chair Nick Picerno shared in an email on Sep. 30.

UPDATE: In a phone call to Sandhills News, Commissioner Tom Adams agreed with Picerno and said he’d mentioned 40 acres with access to municipal water and sewer behind Pete’s Restaurant to the school board. The property would allow many students to walk to school, preserving the tradition and goal of the school board.

The proposed rural site is sloped with hills and lacks municipal water and sewer, and is not in Carthage or its extraterritorial jurisdiction.

“She said they were trying to take the pressure off Farm Life School,” Bennet said about the Moore County School’s Operations representative who visited him. “It’s not even in Carthage. It’s in the county.”

Furthering the debate of a proper school location are underground gas storage tanks across the street.

Hall’s Auto Repair (closed for years) on Vass-Carthage Road has a history of underground gas storage tanks and potential petroleum leaks, raising questions as Moore County Schools considers building a new elementary school across the street.

The site, once operated by Eston and Louise Craven, was flagged in 2002 after a neighbor, Charles McDonald, complained about petroleum contamination in a spring used by nearby homes. State regulators confirmed two underground tanks on the property, but follow-up testing in 2003 and 2006 showed contamination levels below North Carolina groundwater standards.

Read the interesting state document on the smell of petro in the water.

“I can tell you a funny thing about that,” Bennett Hammond said about his relative, Charles McDonald. “I lived off the spring in the big house and everybody but me said the water didn’t smell right. I was the last one to find out,” Hammond said about being a child who had grown accustomed to the taste.

When underground gas storage tanks leak, the fuel moves downward through soil until it reaches groundwater, then spreads outward along the direction of groundwater flow.

Because gasoline is lighter than water, it floats on top of the water table and can migrate horizontally, sometimes forming a plume that stretches hundreds of feet or more depending on soil type and groundwater movement.

In sandy soils, the spread is faster and farther, while in clay soils it is slower but more persistent. Besides liquid contamination, vapors can rise upward through the soil, sometimes seeping into nearby buildings. In short, leaks don’t stay in one spot; they move down to the groundwater and follow its natural flow, affecting wells and springs in the area.

Recent assessments by CATLIN Engineers and Scientists, conducted in 2021, found no petroleum contamination in soil or groundwater samples. However, one groundwater test revealed elevated lead levels. The firm recommended additional soil and water testing around the tanks, fuel lines, nearby wells, and the spring.

The property, now owned by Gary Clark, is still zoned for neighborhood business. It sits open and unfenced, with potential redevelopment possible in the next 20 years.

Environmental officials have not issued a final clearance. If further testing confirms no threat to groundwater or public health, the site could be granted “no further action” status. If contamination is detected, the tanks and piping would need to be permanently abandoned.

Evaluation of the April 2021 North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Report on the Hall’s Auto Repair (NCDEQR) shows the environmental status may factor into planning for the elementary school, proposed directly across from the Hall’s Auto site on Vass-Carthage Road.

Read the full NCDEQR here.

View the original documents here.

Sep. 29, 2025

Stephanie M. Sellers

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