Jet noise complaints not related to OLF site - August 10, 2008
Sue Book
Sun Journal StaffA Web site has logged 200 complaints about jet noise since it was launched on July 3 to gather reaction from northeastern North Carolina residents opposed to a Navy landing field.
But the Navy says the noise being reported has nothing to do with a proposed landing field.
The Navy is looking at five sites in Gates, Camden, and Currituck counties in North Carolina and in Southampton, Sussex and Surry counties in southeastern Virginia. The landing field would be used for practice by pilots of F/A-18 Super Hornet jets.
"I don't know what jet noise they are complaining about but it would have nothing to do with the new OLF," said Ted Brown of the Navy's U.S. Fleet Forces Command public affairs office. "There have been no flyovers or any flight activity connected with the proposed OLF and none are planned."
Brown said Currituck and Camden counties are both in the flight pattern for military aircraft from all military branches.
"There are military training flights from all of them but nothing new," he said.
The Navy has been trying for almost a decade to get a dark and remote location which simulates aircraft carrier landing at which to train F/A-18 Super Hornet pilots. Eight Super Hornet squadrons are stationed at Naval Air Station Oceana at Virginia Beach, Va. Two F/A-18 squadrons are scheduled to be stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station at Cherry Point by 2010.
Sites in northeastern Craven County and Washington-Beaufort counties near Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge were among five the Navy initially studied. Those sites were abandoned in January because of opposition.
Cherry Point in Craven County has a sign at its gate in big letters: "Pardon our noise. It's the sound of freedom." Public complaint about the noise from residents near the base is barely audible.
Camden and Currituck county officials are actively opposing a site in those counties, saying it would be noisy and disruptive, reduce the local tax base with no local economic benefit, depress the value of nearby real estate, and introduce risk not now present for residents.
Sen. Dole writes Navy about "considerable resistance" to OLF sites - April 10, 2008
Sue Book
Sun JournalOpposition came quickly to new North Carolina sites that the Navy formally announced for an F/A-18 Super Hornet outlying landing field on Wednesday.
Before the sun set, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole wrote to Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter to relay the "considerable resistance" she has heard from Camden, Currituck and Gates counties toward a potential outlying landing field.
She outlined her concerns and questioned whether the Navy should risk taxpayer dollars studying the sites or "cause further emotional and financial tolls on the residents of northeastern North Carolina along the way."
Dole told Winter in her letter that "it is troubling that the Navy has not made clear what, if any, economic benefits an OLF would create for the affected area."
"I am frankly baffled that many months have passed since the new OLF sites were identified, but officials and residents in these counties have yet to hear any compelling reasons why they should accept this facility," she said.
"I fully understand that the Navy truly needs this facility, but I would respectfully offer that this process cannot and should not occur in a vacuum. A sincere and forthcoming effort by the Navy to outline the economic benefits is crucial to securing broad local support."
The Navy is looking for a remote site of about 25,000 to 30,000 acres in a rural area of northeastern North Carolina or southeastern Virginia for pilots from Naval Air Station Oceana to practice aircraft carrier night landings.
A six-year effort to locate the OLF in five other N.C. sites was scrapped after concerted public opposition and court challenges. The Navy said its future efforts would try to identify a site more acceptable to the public and the politicians.
A notice of intent to do environmental impact studies on the five new sites was published in the Federal Register on Wednesday. The notice announced hearings for public information and comment.
The North Carolina public meetings are set for Currituck County at the N.C. Cooperative Extension, Currituck County Center, 120 Community Way, Barco, on April 28, 2008, 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Gates County at the Gates County High School, 088 U.S. Highway 158 West, Gatesville, on May 2, 2008, 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.; and Camden County at Camden County High School, 103 U.S. Highway 158 West, Camden, on May 5, 2008, 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Comments can be made with written statements submitted to Navy representatives at the public scoping open houses; mailed to Commander, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic, 6506 Hampton Boulevard, Norfolk, VA 23508, Attn: Code EV OLF Project Manager; or submitted via the Web site at http://www.OLFEIS.com.
Navy to study two N.C., three Virginia sites for landing field - April 9, 2008 - 7:15PM
Sue Book
Sun JournalThe Navy published its intention in the Federal Register on Wednesday to study five new sites in North Carolina and Virginia for use as an outlying landing field.
The notice formally announces Navy plans for environmental impact studies on two North Carolina possible landing fields for F/A-18 Super Hornets at Hale's Lake in Camden and Currituck counties and Sandbanks in Gates County.
"Based on an evaluation of available information, these sites each have operational, environmental, and population characteristics that make them viable site alternatives for further analysis," the notice said.
The North Carolina sites were originally suggested in September 2007 by Gov. Mike Easley and Environment and Natural Resources Secretary William Ross. They were vigorously opposed by residents and local governments during meetings held in the region and in Raleigh by a committee Easley appointed.
The Navy's Wednesday notice schedules meetings for public information and comment in Currituck County on April 28, Gates County on May 2, and Camden County on May 5, and others in southeast Virginia from April 29 through May 7.
For many in rural eastern North Carolina, who opposed for six years other sites selected by the Navy as possible sites, the news brings a sense of here-we-again.
Some of them were among 500 people who attended a March 29 "Blessed Celebration" event in a barn on the Washington-Beaufort county line, signaling the end of a fight to keep the Navy's fast and loud airplanes from interfering with migratory waterfowl and wildlife at Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge or residents' rural lifestyle.
That event was scheduled even before the Navy announced it is looking for a way to return 1,167 acres of the land it bought in that area to the state for some public use and vowed to pay better attention to resident concerns in future planning.
Originally, the Navy was looking for a 30,000-acre OLF site about equidistant from Cherry Point, where two Super Hornet squadrons are scheduled to be based by 2010, and Naval Air Field Fentress near NAS Oceana at Virginia Beach, Va.
The study announced Wednesday is to assess potential environmental consequences of an OLF to support East Coast Navy carrier aircraft using Naval Auxiliary Landing Field Fentress. They include the planes from NAS Oceana at Virginia Beach, Va., and Naval Station Norfolk Chambers Field. Cherry Point is not mentioned.
The OLF facilities the notice outlines would include an 8,000-foot runway, aircraft traffic control tower, and other support buildings. The Navy is also proposing Class D airspace around the OLF. Class D airspace requires communication with the tower and controls an area from the surface to 2,500 feet.
That would require the Navy to buy property or property interests to construct the facilities, airfield safety zones, and projected high-noise zones. Property would be bought or leased and restrictive-use or conservation easements acquired.
Analysis for the environmental impact statement is expected to take about 30 months, during which, the notice said, the Navy will work closely with North Carolina and Virginia officials and elected representatives to better understand their perspective and ways to identify benefits and mitigate harm.
Navy begins steps to divest itself of land in Washington County - March 26, 2008 - 7:08PM
Sue Book
Sun JournalThe Navy started action this week to put some Washington County land acquired for an outlying landing field into public hands. The Navy also acted to cancel condemnation proceedings on some land and return it to the original owners.
In a departure from the Navy's traditional way of disposing of unneeded property, it plans to ask Congress for authority to let the state of North Carolina acquire up to 1,167 acres near Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge for some public use, said Mark Anthony, a U.S. Navy Fleet Force civilian employee in Norfolk working on the project.
"Over the last two days there have been ongoing negotiations" between the state and the Navy, Anthony said. "We know the state of North Carolina is aware of the situation and it is now up to them how they want to pursue it."
"The timeframe for any land transfer depends on discussions with the state and Congress," Anthony said. "Rep. G.K. Butterfield, Rep. Walter B. Jones and Senators Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr are all concerned that we expedite as quickly as possible.
"There are a lot of people hoping and ready to turn this into a positive, not negative, situation. The key is this new way of doing business is dependent on the state and Congress participation."
"The state could use the land for a lot of purposes," Anthony said, "including environmental protection, wetlands mitigation, or financial gain from money generated from land sale.
"This is pretty positive news, depending on what the elected officials do."
The Navy filed a settlement stipulation in federal court on Tuesday for approval to "re-vest" the McMullan Trust with 1,572 acres the Navy got in 2005 by condemnation for $3.2 million.
The government and the trust have agreed on terms for returning title to the property to the trust, Anthony said. That was possible because the sale had not been completed.
The Navy is aware that former owners of other parcels for which the Navy paid between $3,000 and $4,000 an acre may be interested in reacquiring them, but the Navy does not have legal authority to give former owners priority.
Typically, land the Navy owns and does not need is offered to the Department of Defense or other federal agencies, said Navy Cmdr. Rich Cantoire. If the Defense Department does not need the land, U.S. General Services Administration handles disposal of the property, sometimes allowing states or local communities an option, then the general public.
Washington County Board of Commissioners indicated an interest in acquiring some of the land following a meeting on Monday, Anthony said. The county will have to work that out with the state if it gets the land through congressional action.
The 2,739 acres in Washington County were the first acquired of about 30,000 acres the Navy wanted for an F/A-18 Super Hornet outlying landing field for night pilot practice simulating aircraft carrier landing. The site was selected from five eastern North Carolina sites, including one in northeastern Craven County, identified for use by squadrons at Cherry Point and Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, Va.
Washington County "Site C" was picked twice as the Navy's preferred location for the OLF but met challenges in court from environmental groups because of it was in the flight path of migratory waterfowl and from residents and local governments because it challenged their rural lifestyle.
The NO-OLF group from Washington and Beaufort counties had scheduled a "NO-OLF Blessed Celebration Dinner" for Saturday long before news came from the Navy on the land-transfer possibilities. The invitation read: "Site C is off the list!!! Migratory waterfowl, endangered red wolves, farmlands are SAFE!!!"
Anthony told the Sun Journal on Wednesday that two squadrons of F/A-18 Super Hornets "are still headed for Cherry Point. That is in the record of decision."
He said work is progressing on selecting one of five new OLF sites under consideration. All are within about 65 miles of NAS Oceana and include sites in Gates and Camden counties in North Carolina, he said.
"We are working to officially notify the public through the Federal Register in the first part of April with a notice of intent for an environmental impact statement. Then there will be public scoping meetings at all sites in the latter part of April and first part of May," Anthony said.