Off Topics: MC Al G Environmentalist? yeah Right!

Presidential relatives have historically been the focus of media attention. President Lincoln suffered enormous bad press over his Southern-born wife, Mary Todd Lincoln's, rebel sympathies and outrageous spending habits, habits that prompted her to play fast and loose with the White House accounts and payroll. Billy Carter's public drunkenness and associations with such questionable rogues as Mohammar Qaddafi brought his brother Jimmy numerous public relations headaches. Roger Clinton's drug arrest and self-professed addiction have called into question President Clinton's own denials of drug use.

A Respected Adviser

Yet, in covering what has been one of the most powerful vice-presidencies in American history, the media have overlooked some of Gore's Tennessee roots and especially his uncle Whit LaFon, a man who by Gore's own admission has exerted tremendous influence at critical points in his life. LaFon, now 81, brother of Al's mother, Pauline LaFon Gore, was first a state prosecutor and then a judge for many years. LaFon claims that he played an important role in helping convince young Al Gore in 1970 that he should enlist in the Army and serve in Vietnam. According to LaFon, Gore and his family have been frequent visitors to his Swallow Bluff property. Gore continues to seek out LaFon's counsel and advice; he recently appointed his uncle to the national steering committee of Veterans for Gore.

Gore Mum On Serious Questions

In response to written and oral requests to discuss his relationship with LaFon and other Tennessee supporters, Gore's office said that he would be unavailable for an interview. As Gore basks in the glow of the Sierra Club's endorsement, the media have ignored an environmental controversy involv-ing Whit LaFon and a Tennessee River island with ancient Indian burial mounds. The 69-acre island lies just below LaFon's cabin on Swallow Bluff. LaFon bought the island in 1967 for $1. He occasionally armed it and raised a herd of goats there. LaFon told developer Larry Melton that the island was once a favorite playground for Al Gore's children.

Tennessee State Archaeologist Nick Fielder says there are two small burial mounds and one large temple mound plus the remnants of an 800-year old Indian village on the island. It is designated as a historic site under the National Historical Preservation Act, but LaFon developed a plan for a 21-unit luxury development, including a private airstrip, on the island. LaFon and the R.H. Hickman agency of Jackson, Tenn. started shopping the island to area realtors. Crunk Realty of Savannah, Tenn. passed because they knew that the TVA and the U.S. Corps of Engineers have strict erosion control guidelines that spelled trouble for LaFon's development plan. There was also the problem of the legally protected Indian mounds. A Crunk official said, "We just didn't see any way to overcome all that."

LaFon sold the island and his plan to a development company called Blankenship-Melton. Larry Melton, a partner in the firm, claims the deal was based on assurances that LaFon would "use his political connections to cut through the environmental red tape." Melton said, "I was sitting there when Hickman told Blankenship that LaFon would use his political connections to cut through the red tape, to take care of the TVA and the state on the environmental stuff." As they voiced concerns about the state and federal agencies, LaFon said, according to Melton, that they shouldn't worry, asking, "Don't you know who my nephew is?"

The Gore connection was spelled out in a memo written by Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation official Jack Wade, about a phone conversation with Larry Mel-ton. Wade wrote, "He also said that Al Gore's kids were playing along the river bank while he met with Whit LaFon and Al Gore. He's claiming that it was their idea and that they orchestrated the sale of the Swallow Bluff Island and the project."

The Environmental Nightmare

Blankenship-Melton bought the island in March 1999 and began construction around July 1. On July 8, TVA staff observed crews digging on the island and informed them a permit was needed. No permit was obtained and TVA reminded them of it on July 14. Two weeks later, TVA ordered that all work be halted until the permit was approved. The developers were told that disturbing the burial sites would be a criminal offense. The state found that parts of the banks had been stripped of vegetation and artifacts. On Aug. 16, the Army Corps of Engineers issued a "cease and desist" order and called for stabilizing the shoreline, but on Nov. 4 no visible vegetation was left on the banks, the erosion had not been stopped, and work was continuing.

According to state archaeologist Nick Fielder, the construction crews had sloped the bank at a 45 degree angle, sending erosion spiraling out of control. Soil and village material was slipping off into the river, and nearly half of the great temple mound had fallen into the water. In total disregard of the regulations, parts of the Indian mounds were being bulldozed into the Tennessee River.

The state scheduled a "show cause" hearing on December 8, 1999,but no one from Blankenship-Melton appeared. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) officials finally contacted Walden Blankenship and arranged for an on-site meeting. It never happened. On January 18, 2000, officials discovered that the burial mounds had been dug into with shovels. At that point, on February 2, TDEC Commissioner Milton Hamilton issued an order, demanding that construction be halted and erosion control measures put in place, slapping the developers with $234,000 in fines and damages. But even that failed to bring the company into line.

Buyers Blame LaFon And Gore

Larry Melton offered a reason for their noncompliance in his February 22 phone conversation with Jack Wade of TDEC. Wade wrote a memo about this call, saying: "He is upset that Judge LaFon is back watering and claiming no connection with the project," referring to LaFon's earlier promises to use Al Gore to take care of problems with the TVA and the Corps of Engineers. A month later, Walden Blankenship and Larry Melton issued statements blaming those two agencies with creating the erosion problem.

Melton told us that LaFon had repeatedly used Gore's name as the avenue to "make the environmental problems go away." "That's why we bought the property," Melton said. "The development had already been advertised. Gore was supposed to handle the red tape." Wade was even more emphatic, telling us, "I've worked with these guys before, and when he (Melton) said that he met with Gore and LaFon, that the development was their idea, and that the Gore kids were running around on the river bank as they talked, I believed him. He sounded sincere." The state official also noted that in previous work with Blankenship-Melton, when problems were discovered, "we'd just send a notice of violation and they would take action. But this time was different. They acted as if they had protection."

R.H. Hickman, owner of R.H. Hickman Realty, denies that he was involved in any such way. He said "One of my agents, Jerry Norwood, handled it for Judge LaFon, and we simply listed it and fielded offers. It was just a regular real estate transaction." Attempts to contact Norwood were unsuccessful.