news-record.com

RALEIGH (AP) — Two state environmental engineers have been called to testify before a federal grand jury this week, including one who examined the permit for a development where then-Gov. Mike Easley bought some land in 2005.

Federal prosecutors in Raleigh asked Nathaniel Thornburg and Jim Bushardt to visit the grand jury, according to subpoenas provided by the state Division of Water Quality, where both employees work.

Based on people asked to testify and documents sought in recent months, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Raleigh has been examining a wide range of activities involving Easley's airplane travels while governor and former first lady Mary Easley's job at North Carolina State University.

Thornburg, who works in Raleigh, was the primary reviewer of a wastewater treatment facility license for Cannonsgate. The development at Bogue Sound in Carteret County was approved by the division in June 2005, according to a division document listing issued permits.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reported last week the Easleys accepted a $137,000 discount on a waterfront lot at Cannonsgate six months after the permit was granted. The Easleys put down earnest money for the land less than two weeks after the licensing, the newspaper said.

The Cannonsgate project involved several of Easley's political allies, including McQueen Campbell, who represented a Raleigh real estate broker in selling the acreage that became the residential development.

Campbell's name has been listed often on subpoenas generated by prosecutors. Campbell resigned as chairman of the N.C. State trustee board in May as scrutiny grew about his involvement in Mary Easley's hiring.

Both Thornburg and Bushardt, who works in the Wilmington regional office, are involved in express permitting, in which licensing decisions are performed more quickly compared to traditional permitting. The applicant must pay higher fees to receive the more intensive attention. There has been no evidence released that Cannonsgate received preferential treatment.

The subpoenas asked the employees to be ready to visit the Raleigh federal building where grand jurors are empaneled between Wednesday and Friday. They were not expected before Thursday, division spokeswoman Susan Massengale said.

The deed for the lot bought by the Easleys listed the price as $549,880, but the newspaper, citing another document signed by the couple, that provided them a "seller discount" of 25 percent, bringing the cost down to $412,410.

The discount could be considered a gift, and under law, any gifts of more than $200 would have to be reported on state ethics forms. A political consultant working for the Easleys said the former governor, who left office in January, had been assured he received the same offer on land as everyone else.