By Kip Tabb | Voices from the Outer Banks November 5, 2024

Colonel Ron Sturgeon, USACE Savannah District Commander. (Photo credit: Kip Tabb)

Questions emerge in the Coast Guard area

By Kip Tabb | Voices from the Outer Banks

At a large community meeting in Buxton Monday evening at the Fessenden Center, representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) described progress in mitigating contamination from a US Navy base. cold war. The base’s mission was to listen for enemy submarine activity.

The site had been leased from the Cape Hatteras National Seashore by the United States Navy from 1956 to 1982. After the Navy left, the Coast Guard used the site until 2010.

The cleanup of the naval area falls under the provisions of the Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) Act, which places responsibility for site restoration on USACE. The Coast Guard is responsible for returning its portion of the base to its original condition.

According to Col. Ron Sturgeon, USACE Savannah District commander, considerable progress has been made.

“As of today, we have 657 cubic meters of oil-contaminated soil,” the audience said. “For better visualization, this represents approximately 55 truckloads of soil. We also removed permanent infrastructure and debris that obstructed our access to infected soils. So far, we have transported 138,000 pounds of concrete, over 1,100 feet of pipes including metal pipe and PVC pipe, and over 1,000 feet of cable and wire.

The removal of infrastructure is important. In the past, this was not done, and under the provisions of the FUDS Act, USACE is not authorized to remove infrastructure unless it is the only means of accessing the source of pollution.

Most of the infrastructure and pollution that has been removed comes from what was Building 19 at the naval site. The building was one of the largest buildings on the site when in use.
Sturgeon, noting that work on Building 19 would soon conclude, made clear that there was still work to be done and that USACE would continue its work, telling reporters after her presentation that “a complete sampling (would) determine our next steps,” adding that a sampling contract “is expected to be awarded on November 15.”

“We will work with the DEQ (NC Department of Environmental Quality) and the National Park Service to determine the direction for the next steps,” he said.

When asked why pollutants were never detected during two previous USACE cleanup actions at the site in 1989 and 2005, Sturgeon pointed to a vibrant coastline that had retreated significantly.

“I think at the time of sampling there was an additional 15 feet of sand on the beach. So if you look at the erosion over time, between the 50s and 70s until today, Building 19, the main source of infrastructure, was 200 to 300 meters from the ocean. Now it’s in the ocean,” he said.

Although most of the meeting focused on USACE’s progress at the site, representatives from a recently released report on the area of ​​the site used by the Coast Guard, WSP USA Environment & Infrastructure, were in attendance.

Although a number of contaminants were identified in the report, according to WSP’s Matt Allen, the level of contamination was not sufficient to require mitigation measures, noting that two standards can be applied: industrial with a threshold higher and residential which is stricter.

“They are (polluting) compared to industrial commercial standards, because that is the current use of the property,” he told Voice. “Residential is only used if there is someone living there or if there is something like a daycare or hospital.”

Asked by The Voice whether the industry standard met National Park Service expectations, CHNS Superintendent Dave Hallac said no.

“We would still want a level of contamination below residential standards, or perhaps not even measurable,” he said. “So we’re going to look at the Coast Guard report and then communicate to them what our usual standard is.”

Hallac’s position is supported by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.

“It’s really the Park Service’s call.” It’s their house. We will support them,” said Bill Hunneke, DEQ Superfund Section Chief.

The meeting also discussed what form future communications with the public would take. Two options were presented.

Visitors discuss the clean-up at the Buxton site with project manager Gayle Garland. (Left to right) Kaly Huff of Charleston, South Carolina, member of Surfrider Foundation, Lynn Kern of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, RV owner in Buxton, Gayle Garland. (Photo credit: Kip Tabb)

USACE has held a number of public meetings to inform the Buxton community of what is happening with the cleanup efforts, and according to Alexandra Jangrell-Tackett, program manager for Dawson Solutions, who presented both options, the public meetings “still allow this flow”. information from the community and USACE.

The other option, a Restoration Advisory Board (RAB), is a more formalized process.

“A RAB is a stakeholder advisory group that works to communicate between the DoD (Department of Defense)… and the local community. RABs are established where USACE has environmental oversight on a FUDS property…and this allows for the exchange of information, concerns, needs or values ​​that the community wishes to address,” Tackett said.

A RAB requires an investment of time from board members. Typically six to eight hours per month, Tackett noted.

Screen shown at the Buxton meeting giving an overview of the differences between a RAB format and a public meeting. (Photo credit: Kip Tabb)

Unlike public meetings, which are held at irregular intervals, an RAB is required to hold regular meetings. These meetings and any information gathered by the board must “be made available to other public stakeholders or local groups and organizations to ensure you understand what they are trying to get out of the ongoing activities” , she said.

Tackett also pointed out that a RAB can request information from regulatory agencies and representatives.

A RAB is co-chaired by a community member and a DOD appointee.

When asked by The Voice if she had a preference, Buxton Civic Association board member Heather Jennette felt public meetings were good, but RAB was the better option.

“I love this format. I like the idea of ​​continued public meetings,” she said, referring to the Nov. 4 meeting. “But I think our fear is that one side will disengage too easily if travel is no longer convenient or if people aren’t making enough noise right now.”

USACE is conducting a survey of the public to determine their interest in a RAB through December 4. Click here to access the investigation.