Dole opposes Navy on OLF

Stand bolsters foes of landing field

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole got the nation's top Navy official on the phone Thursday morning and told him this: The airstrip next to the wildlife refuge in Eastern North Carolina won't fly.

Her decision to oppose the site means that both of the state's U.S. senators, a majority of the U.S. House delegation, and the governor all are lined up against the Navy's proposal to build the outlying landing field for fighter jets in Washington and Beaufort counties. Those forces, along with fierce opposition by nearby residents and environmental groups, caused some to wonder whether the Navy would continue to push forward after losing the support of most of the state's top leaders.

Dole told Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter that she will work hard to keep the landing field away from the national wildlife refuge, even threatening to block $10 million in funding to build the site. She said she will help the Navy find a more palatable site, including possible locations on state-owned land.

"As I have conveyed to you, the Navy's proposal to build an OLF in Washington County is simply not feasible," Dole wrote in a follow-up letter she sent Thursday afternoon.

"In the interest of both North Carolinians and the service, the Navy must withdraw its recommendation," she said.

The Navy issued its own statement Thursday afternoon, saying Winter "appreciates" Dole's help to find suitable locations. It also said that it isn't changing its mind.

"Washington County has been, and remains the Navy's preferred site," the Navy said. "The Navy welcomes any effort that would identify new locations that meet the Navy's operational and environmental criteria."

Armed Services role

Dole sits on the Senate's Armed Services Committee, and observers have predicted the military could be loath to anger lawmakers over such a local issue.

"The Navy's got its work cut out for it," predicted John Mashburn, a former top staff member for Republican leaders in the Senate. Mashburn, who now works in government affairs in the Washington office of Womble Carlyle, a North Carolina law firm, pointed out that the Armed Services Committee has significant say over what the Navy does.

Still, local residents say they will continue fighting until the Navy has moved elsewhere.

"My main concern now is that our delegation does not back down," said Brian Roth, mayor of the small town of Plymouth, near the proposed landing field site.

Chris Canfield, executive director of Audubon North Carolina, said Dole's stance seals the delegation's opposition to the landing site enough to bolster his group's efforts on Capitol Hill among other key senators and members of Congress.

'Run out of runway'

"It should signal to the Navy that they've run out of options," Canfield said. "They've run out of runway."

In an interview Thursday before sending the letter, Dole said the Navy must find a site with limited environmental impacts, a more receptive residential community and a future for economic development.

She said she came to her conclusions after working to solve the site problem. She said she talked to Winter several times, most recently Thursday morning.

"What I have tried to do is engage in due diligence," Dole said. "It's not just a matter of trying to oppose something, but to work toward a solution."

At one point, she said, members of her staff were on a conference call with nine Navy staff members. She received responses Friday to pages of questions that she had sent to the Navy.

She wanted to wait until after the public hearings to make a statement. The last was held Tuesday in Charlotte.