Study: Navy prefers N.C. landing site

RALEIGH -- After conducting a court-ordered followup environmental study, the Navy concluded in a filing today that it still wants to build a practice airstrip for training pilots in one of Eastern North Carolina's richest settings for migratory birds.

The Navy’s supplemental environmental study rreaffirms that a site straddling Washington and Beaufort counties remains its choice for training pilots to land on aircraft carriers.

The Navy has already begun assembling 30,000 acres in the area to build the $231 million runway.

Environmental groups and the two counties had successfully challenged the plan in court, arguing the Navy’s initial study did not adequately consider the environmental harm the airstrip would cause. A federal court ordered a more thorough environmental impact study.

The site is about five miles from Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge hosts about 100,000 migratory waterfowl each winter, including flocks of tundra swans and snow geese, plus a small population of endangered red wolves.

Opponents have argued that the aircraft noise would harm wildlife and expose pilots to the risk of bird-plane collisions.

The Navy's new environmental report acknowledges that since its earlier studies, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has documented increases in bald eagle and red wolf populations. The Navy said it would work with Fish and Wildlife officials to minimize potential adverse impacts.

Squadrons of F/A-18 Super Hornets based at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia and at Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station in Havelock would use the practice runway.

Approximately 2,000 acres would encompass the core area that includes an 8,000-foot runway and a five-story traffic control tower. The remaining 28,000 acres would serve as a buffer. The air field would have about 31,650 military aircraft operations a year.

Congressman J.K. Butterfield, whose district includes Washington County, said in a statement today that the Navy appears to have addressed the areas identified by the court that require additional analysis. But, he said, the Navy also chose not to re-examine the original screening process or consider sites beyond the five sites in North Carolina that the Navy originally evaluated.

"I'm certainly disappointed with the decision, and I'm deeply concerned that the Navy continues to resist fulfilling its obligations to engage in a clear, full, fair and objective process carried out in the light of day," Butterfield said in the statement.

"Without looking at all the possibilities, it's still very difficult to believe that there isn't a better, safer and more suitable place to build an Outlying Landing Field than alongside a highly active wildlife refuge," he said.

The Navy will host six public hearings in March and April to get public comment on the study.