NORFOLK
The Navy says it’s taking a new approach to finding an outlying landing field for Oceana Naval Air Station – and top officials are pledging not to make the same mistakes their predecessors did.
Politicians and environmental groups still bruised from a long battle over a different site remain wary, though they said they welcome the Navy’s new commitment to cooperation and creative solutions.
Rear Adm. David Anderson, who’s leading the effort to find a site, said Navy Secretary Donald Winter has given him “wide latitude” to “question everything, down to how much we’re offering to pay for land, how we assess land, how much land we have to own.”
In January, Winter withdrew the Navy’s proposal for a field in Washington County, N.C. The site had garnered widespread criticism from residents, environmental groups and sporting organizations. The Navy’s analysis of the site, a few miles from a national wildlife refuge, drew sharp criticism from a federal judge and appeals court.
Eventually, North Carolina’s two senators and its governor also opposed the location.
Winter decided the Navy would examine five new sites – three in southeastern Virginia and two in northeastern North Carolina.
This time around, Anderson said, the Navy can’t afford to use the military’s standard procedure for locating a controversial facility.
“We look around and we find a spot on the map, and we plop our requirement down and force everybody to adapt to our requirement,” Anderson said.
“Legally, under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), we’re authorized to do that. But I don’t believe that the Department of Defense and Department of the Navy can continue to do business like that in the future.
“When you completely disregard and disrupt communities’ and individuals’ lives, with this air of arrogance, they’re going to call their elected officials now in a way they have never done in the past.”
And those elected leaders respond by cutting off federal funding, he said.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., remains skeptical.
“I fear that now we could be heading down the same road and allowing history to repeat itself,” she wrote in a letter last week to Secretary Winter.
“I question whether it is prudent for the Navy to move forward with additional studies on these contested sites. ... North Carolinians vividly recall the several stressful years and several millions of dollars expended in studying the widely opposed Site C in Washington and Beaufort counties.”
Anderson hopes that bringing residents, local officials and non-governmental organizations to the table early will mute some of that criticism.
He insists that the Navy can find a creative solution.
“If the people want to farm, if that’s the biggest activity in the area that the community wants to continue, we’re working out ways for them to farm right up to the edge of the concrete,” Anderson said. “And if they want to go across the concrete, to work it out so they can have access to get across when we’re not flying.”
David Smith, Virginia’s deputy secretary of commerce and trade, said state officials are also talking to the Navy about economic development possibilities that could make the field more palatable to Southampton, Sussex and Surry counties.
“If you think about the asset we’ll have in place – a 10,000-foot runway – that could lend itself to other uses for that field when the Navy isn’t using it,” Smith said. One example: he mentioned a distribution facility where commercial cargo jets could land on the runway when the Navy wasn’t practicing.
“This is a very refreshing position the Navy is taking on something like this,” Smith said.
Anderson, a former A-6 Intruder and F/A-18 Hornet pilot, said he’d rather work with the potentially affected communities upfront to make the project as palatable as it can be.
“Let’s put everything on the table. Nobody’s writing checks right now. We just want to brainstorm and find out, 'What’s the art of the possible?’” Anderson said, using one of his favorite phrases.
He said the Navy is already talking to two environmental groups about a site in Gates County, N.C.
Representatives of The Nature Conservancy and The Conservation Fund have been consulted on what’s called the Sandbanks site, Anderson said, to talk about “reintroducing some agriculture and threatened and endangered species we know are compatible with having an airfield there.”
Tom Cors, government relations representative for The Nature Conservancy’s North Carolina office, confirmed that the Conservancy is “engaged in the process,” partly because it owns 6,500 acres in Gates County adjacent to the proposed field.
Cors said the conservancy isn’t opposed to working with the military, noting that it started a conservation buffer program at Fort Bragg with cooperation from the Defense Department.
But he also said The Nature Conservancy is taking a “wait-and-see approach” with the landing field.
“There are just a lot of things we don’t know yet,” Cors said. “We really have to wait and see what sorts of impact will come out of the environmental impact statement to really understand what that means for conservation.”
He does think the Gates County site is less objectionable than the Navy’s old preferred location: “The environmental concerns are of a much different magnitude and scale than the Washington County site.”
Robert Crouch, Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s assistant for commonwealth preparedness, said the Navy has learned some hard lessons, but he warned communities not to view Washington County’s outcome as an indication the Navy can be deterred.
“I think it’s a mistake for us to assume that there’s never going to be an OLF anywhere,” Crouch said. “There’s got to be a solution to this found, and it takes patience, and open-mindedness to listen and to be heard.”
Anderson knows that may be the biggest task he faces: getting residents in the five counties to listen and respond to the facts, not emotion.
He said he’s gotten calls from residents of Moyock, N.C., concerned that their quality of life would collapse because of jet noise if the landing strip were to be built in Gates County. In reality, Anderson said, they probably would not notice the jets, which would not fly above them en route to the field.
“We still are losing the battle on educating people about what it means,” Anderson said. “There’s an awful lot of misinformation out there.”
Kate Wiltrout, (757) 446-2629, kate.wiltrout@pilotonline.com
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McMasehere, I need to know about jet fuel.
I looked into your statement about dumping jet fuel and I see there is something to it. I was wrong. I did a Google search and can't get any real details. Can you comment on it with specifics like why and how much or can you direct me to a place on the net to get specifics. I want to be prepared to submit defining questions at the scoping meeting. I really am concerned about this. I am a big advocate of protecting our water supply.
I commented on your statement at The Daily Advance site and you may perceive me to be an unreasonable person on the subject of the OLF. I really am not unreasonable and I am deeply concerned about this.
"The decibels on this
"The decibels on this aircraft is more to 80 than the 60 they are trying to sell you."
Thanks for the support. Just FYI, The F-18 produces a single noise event that is over 110 decibels(http://www.jetnoise.org/).
OLF in NC not needed...from a Navy Man of 24 years with F-18's
The Navy is WANTING this OLF....but its not a need. We do not need a new air strip for our pilots. Right now my pilots get all the flight time they can get. I moved my family to NC to get away from the jet noise. I have worn safety gear yet I still have hearing loss. You and your children will too, over time, if we comes to your area. The decibels on this aircraft is more to 80 than the 60 they are trying to sell you. Yes we do have our pilots dump their remaining fuel before
landing. The damages to the enviroment are many. Most will not recover.
Children in our areas suffer from more than average sickness, heart disease and the list goes on. There are sites in VA that want the OLF
yet the Navy is looking at NC..where are tourists are, where we vacation at the beaches, where our farmers are the best in the country. WHY?
Land value. They Navy is not stupid, they want your land for cheap so
in 2 years time they will profit. All this money for 2 years?
I smell a rat here. I am concerned about my pilots especially if we have
to fly in NC. The snow geese, spotted owl, peligans and birds of this sort can cause a pilots death. Birds are our worst enemy and can down
Just Seeing
If he lived in the flight path..We were arguing about it...but hes on the outer edge..so now its a new argument if the "edge" counts or not. I don't see how it matters either...I give up on this...
RE What difference..
Sorry as per an agreement can't say unless "Move Oceana" comment replies. Everyone is still here..But I will tell you this....the "vote" on you is 5 to 0...So no odds on you..pretty much a sure thing..
Setting the record straight
I live on the edge of the flight pattern for Oceana. I'm one of those freaks that the noise really doesn't bother me but then I don't live directly under the flight paths either.
My point being, the safety issue of the base is a critical concern, and it is one the Navy has brought up repeatedly. The chances of a disastrous accident go up considerably with high performance aircraft such as the F-18. The more crowded the area is, the heavier the operations, the greater chances of of accident. One cannot compare commercial jets to high performance fighters or strike aircraft.
And don't forget it's not just the people who live around the base that complain but the tourists also. I do not see where the two are compatible. The City of Virginia Beach is going to have to make a choice: tourism and homes or the naval air station. It will eventually come down to that, if it really hasn't already and we are just fooling ourselves about it.
The very best thing would be to create a new MJB out in the middle of open country. The problem with that idea is the people in the open country like it that way. Too many NIMBYs out there.
I dont' get it. .
What difference does it make where Mark lives? And besides, it's NOT just Oceana, it's an issue with Shadowlawn, Broad Bay Point Greens, Wolfsnare Plantation, Foxfire, Red Mill . .All the places routinely get blasted by jet noise. Anything in a five mile radius is in danger. You just hear more about Ocean as it's closest to the base. And, yes, I do live around Oceana, and I knew all about the jet noise, however, it's an excellent location; Close to interstates, great restaurants, the beach, Back Bay by way of International Parkway.
I don't get all these idiots talking about the base closing, and money going away. The base will stay, as MANY other things go one there. It's just that the jets will leave. It's not a huge economy issue, or any big deal for a bunch of pilots/jets to relocate. Ocean is a stupid place for a MJB, and the Navy knows it. If the DOD was concerned they should have bought up tons of land in the '70s.
Re Replacing Oceana
Mark.. I have 4 friends over & 2 of them are Navy. 5 here including myself. All read your blog entry. I'm not going to say how I voted, or even that gambling may be taking place....but I will say this. The odds are 4 to 1 that you live in the Oceana area
Time to replace Oceana
The real problem is with the location of Oceana NAS. Virginia Beach has grown up around it. It is inevitable that cities will do this. No matter how much preaching that Oceana is so important to the city, the reality of it is, if it WAS so important, the city would have stopped development around the base decades ago.
This should not be an issue of where to put the OLF but where to create a new Master Jet Base for the East Coast.
It will become more of an issue the first time a jet crashes down in a residential area, an office building, the Lynnhaven Mall or, heaven forbid, a school . . .
Wow, they have learned nothing. . .
"Winter decided the Navy would examine five new sites – three in southeastern Virginia and two in northeastern North Carolina."
The Navy reps are all complete morons. When will they realize that with the JSF out in around two years Oceana is finished as a MJB. Yet, these idiots continue to look for an OLF, which is simply a band-aid. I wish someone in the Navy would step forward and do the intelligent thing, and move the jet base to a secluded location, and southeastern VA, northeastern , NC is not secluded enough. Either that or give $450K to every homeowner in a 5 miles radius to buy a new house.
You're right about misinformation
“We still are losing the battle on educating people about what it means,” Anderson said. “There’s an awful lot of misinformation out there.”
I think the Navy should look in the mirror as to where most of the misinformation is coming from.
Public Meeting Itinerary....OLF
Hmm I guess Adm. Anderson didn't agree with my suggestion on a previous post suggesting Suffolk, may be a hospitable place..Good luck Admiral...I don't know how you will fare with the people & locations on your itinerary, but, over my houses, including the rentals units, in Chesapeake, Va., You may feel free to occupy the airspace without complaint from me. If any of the pilots have to eject..The Navy may also walk on my grass.. I would suggest trying for the front yard at my house though. The dogs may not understand that you are allowed...in the back, & you may at times have to be careful where you step..
“If the people want to
“If the people want to farm, if that’s the biggest activity in the area that the community wants to continue, we’re working out ways for them to farm right up to the edge of the concrete,” Anderson said. “And if they want to go across the concrete, to work it out so they can have access to get across when we’re not flying.”
There are very few full time farmers in Camden and Currituck. Homes abutt every single one of them. The real "misinformation" provided by Anderson and his supporters.
A big thanks out to Sen. Dole and other officials who have supported their fellow citizens.