A federal grand jury wants to hear from two state environmental officials who handled permits on the Cannonsgate land project, a development in coastal Carteret County where former Gov. Mike Easley acquired a soundfront lot in 2005.

The officials have been asked to appear today.

Questions have swirled around the permitting process since reports in The News & Observer in May showed that real estate broker McQueen Campbell, a friend of Easley, bragged in writing that political contacts helped secure the wastewater treatment plant permit in half the one year's time he said it should have taken, J. Andrew Curliss reports.

In an interview, Campbell would not say what he meant by political contacts, other than to say he knew "who to call to get all these things done."

State records show the plant permit at Cannonsgate was granted faster than most, but not to the degree Campbell was claiming. It was part of an express review available to all developers. It was granted in 64 days.

The average of similar sized plants was about 110 days.

More after the jump.

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