Price warns Navy on OLF

U.S. Rep. David Price issued a warning Wednesday to the U.S. Navy, telling the service “in the strongest possible terms” that its planned site for an outlying landing field in eastern North Carolina is not going to work.

In a letter to Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter, Price said the Navy needs to find an alternate place to put the landing field, or else run into trouble getting the project paid for altogether.

“Mr. Secretary, it is my deep hope that, working together, we can avoid a confrontation over the Navy's request for funding,” Price wrote.

Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat, is the state’s only member on the House Appropriations Committee, which funds the Department of Defense. Gov. Mike Easley has asked Congress to block the $10 million the Navy requested for the landing field, which the Navy wants to put on a site in Washington and Beaufort counties.

The field would be used by jets out of Oceana Naval Base near Virginia Beach, Va., and from the Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station to practice nighttime carrier landings.

The site, which has ignited opposition from environmentalists, hunters and area residents, is adjacent to a national wildlife refuge that draws tens of thousands of migratory birds.

Price said the Navy needs to begin discussions with Easley, local officials, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the congressional delegation about finding a better site for the landing field.

“I can say without hesitation that the citizens and elected officials of North Carolina welcome the Navy's decision to build an OLF in our state,” Price wrote.

“I can say with equal certainty, however, that (this site) is not a viable option for an OLF because of the threats it would pose to Navy and Marine pilots and aircraft, to local communities and to the surrounding environment.”