Posted on 02/18/2005 6:33:19 PM PST by Jomini
A federal judge has told the U.S. Navy it can't build a planned fighter jet airstrip next to a wildlife refuge in eastern North Carolina.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle this afternoon issued a ruling that the Navy broke the law by planning the 30,000-acre site without conducting the thorough environmental review required by federal law.
Boyle said the Navy badly underestimated the harm aircraft takeoffs and landings would pose to giant flocks of migratory birds that inhabit the remote area. And he said it also underestimated the threat of bird strikes to pilots and their multimillion-dollar aircraft.
Boyle, a Republican whom President Reagan appointed to the bench in 1984, forbade the Navy to continue planning, developing or building the $185 million Outlying Landing Field in Washington and Beaufort counties without first conducting a proper environmental review.
Boyle's ruling came after a hearing last month in which eastern North Carolina residents filled the courtroom.
Three environmental groups and Washington and Beaufort counties sued to stop the Navy from building the airstrip next to Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. Navy pilots would use the site, about 135 miles east of Raleigh, to practice aircraft carrier landings.
The Navy is expected to appeal Boyle's ruling to the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va.
Regardless of your feelings about this issue it is worth understanding as it lays the groundwork for the coming battles between citizens and an overreaching federal government.
J
This has been my concern from the first I heard about the OLF. That part of NC is bird central. There is no way you could get rid of enough of them to reduce the risk to an acceptable level in the first few years.
NC Ping. A Judge is shutting it down for now.
What Knot-head put the pork thru congresscritters?
Unlike most anti-development environmental arguments, this one IMO passes the "common sense" test.
Hope it doesn't get built.
My son-in-law (Sweetest man ever) is a Nave pilot - it's hazardous enough , but on top of where giant flocks of migratory birds congregate!
Insanity
On one hand this is good news that the federal government can't ignore the dumb and expensive laws it shoves down our throats.
But on the other hand, we, the taxpayers, will have to pay the bill.
Maybe the Navy wants to test ejection and emergency procedures. [ /sarcasm on ]
they could bulldoze Baltimore, and claim it, be the same bird problem, but AFTER they doze Baltimore they could look for another place ;-)
It sounds like the judge can stop the Navy due to the impact study not being done correctly. While his other comments speak of the risk of bird strikes, I'm wondering the level of his expertise on the subject. I have never flown in that area of North Carolina, but I would assume that there is an airport in that area. I hope the judge shuts that down too. According to the environmentalists it is way to dangerous for aircraft.
I was looking at a post by the N.C. audubon society and it looks like the OLF is not the only thing they are trying to shut down. http://www.ncaudubon.org/NAVY_Jan17.htm
The funny thing is that even when the military has owned bases for long periods of time it is not allowed to control the risks to equipment and personnel due to wildlife. Oceana is overpopulated with deer, NAS Key West has a big buzzard problem, and the Air Force lost an AWACS and its crew hitting a large bird on takeoff several years ago in Alaska.
I would think there would be safety issues concerning bird strikes by building in "bird central".
In 1974 I moved to Fort Bragg, North Carolina to play paratrooper. During my first trip back from the Drop Zone I noticed wooden bird houses every hundred yards (not meters). They seemed to be as common as the utility poles along the roadways. This was to help the red calcated woodpecker. It was listed as endangered... Today, from my understanding the bird is literally more established in this region than when the first Scott's arrived in the 1600s. The military has an excellent record on protecting its land management resources.
With the next round in base closings getting underway, there are probably a number of communities which would welcome that training mission.
Get a large section map of the area and see who owns the land not on the refuge, that is w/in 1/2/5/10 mi. from the base and see if you can find a winner.
Migratory birds only fly 2 times a year. Other than that, there isn't much risk at all. Flight training would need only be suspended for 3-4 months of the year for max safety.
So, what the judge said is they must conduct a proper enviromental study FIRST, before they plan any building.
With 30,000 acres, there is plenty of room to avoid any sensitive nesting areas. I wouldn't count on the project being permanently stopped unless the navy decides it's not worth the bother.
Hell yes, much better from a judicial viewpoint to lose a couple cities during a war to a few endangered birds. The cities will grow back.
Oh wait, the ducks and geese don't nest in the south, they do that in the spring when they fly north.
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