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Secret base plays vital role in Cold War
Covert mission in Lewes kept
under wraps for decades
By Ron MacArthur
Cape Gazette staff
It was so super secret and essential to the
Cold War effort, the U.S. Navy did not
reveal the highly classified SOSUS pro-
gram until the early 1990s.
Yet for decades, one of the SOSUS lis-
tening stations was based fight under Cape
Region residents' noses at Fort Miles - and
no one was talking about it.
Some area residents knew the Naval
Facility (NAVFAC) in Lewes, at what is
now Cape Henlopen State Park, was a lis-
tening station, but they had no idea naval
personnel were listening for Soviet sub-
marines as the first line of defense against
nuclear war.
SOSUS, the U.S. Navy Sound
Surveillance System, has been called one of
the most impressive engineering feats of
the early Cold War.
"The cover story was it was an oceano-
graphic research facility working on cur-
rents and temperature in sea water," said
Proposed development
borders Superfund site
Neighbors fear environmental
risks and developer mistakes
By Rachel Swick
Cape Gazette staff
Sussex County developers and construc-
tion workers are in their heyday as devel-
opment booms, but with more building
comes possible damage to an already sensi-
tive ecosystem.
When they present their plans to county
officials, developers explain how they will
protect wetlands and streams. But When
construction starts and reality sets in, some
protections may be overlooked in get the
development built in time and under budg-
et.
This is nowhere more apparent than at
developments such as the Preserves at
Jefferson Creek, The Peninsula and Heron
Bay, where notices of violation were dis-
tributed by the Sussex Conservation
District and the Army Corps of Engineers.
The Army corps recently went into the
Preserves at Jefferson Creek, outside
Bethany Beach, and found that developers
had illegally filled in wetlands.
Bill Winkler, a Bethany Beach resident,
said he saw the problem and called the
Army corps to correct it. Winkler said in
the past, developers have been getting
away with violations, and it istime to bring
down the hammer before valuable natural
areas are destroyed.
Heron Bay, a development under con-
struction off Beaverdam Road, was issued
a notice of violation last month for pollut-
ing a neighboring stream with sediment.
Duringconstruction, developers are
required to contain all stormwater and sed-
iment on-site. But while the county
requires developers to submit a plan for
stormwater management, it relies on
Sussex Conservation District to issue viola-
tions to the developers.
Continued on page 4
Public, board ask for closer
look at high school plans
Cape official asks for
windows that will open
By Laura Ritter
Cape Gazette staff
Cape Henlopen school board offered a
public preview of plans for the new Cape
Henlopen High School at the Dec. 14 board
-meeting, when the board made several
decisions related to the heating and energy
systems.
The board decided to eliminate under-
floor heating and cooling and not to use
funds allocated for the new high school to
install wind- or solar-power technology,
although it did not rule out such technology
later, perhaps as student projects.
Among the most debated issues raised at
the meeting was board President Gary
Wray's request that architects install win-
dows that can be opened.
Concerned because of frequent air-quali-
ty problems at the existing high school,
Wray said he's heard from teachers who
want to be able to open at least one window
when the cooling system fails to work
Continued on page 5
retired Navy Capt.
William Manthorpe of
Rehoboth Beach, a
member of the Fort
Miles Historical
Association.
Manthorpe and David
Henderson spoke during
the association's annual
MA_N-'IORPE fall meeting Saturday,
Dec. 9, at the Biden
Center in Cape Henlopen State Park, the
former U.S. Navy headquarters building.
Henderson, coordinator of the Delaware
Technical & Community College engineer-
ing tech program, presented work his class
did on mapping out the area of Battery 519,
the location of the future World War II
museum. SOSUS operated out of a termi-
nal building at Herring Point from 1962 to
1981, when the base closed. NAVFAC
Lewes was one of the most highly decorat-
ed bases in naval history, because the base
garnered every honor possible, said
Manthorpe, who has done extensive
research on history of the base.
The base was also the first naval base in
Continued on page 3
Ron MacArthur photo
Milton ceremony honors the homeless
Showing compassion for the homeless, people gathered at Case San
Francisco in Milton Thursday, Dec. 21, during a prayer service for National
Homeless Persons' Memorial Day. Candies were lit in memory of the seven
known homeless people who died in Delaware during 2006. Shown taking
part in the ceremony are (l-r) Steven Smith and Joy Troop Smith of Lewes,
and Pat Post of Milton. See additional photos on page 12
