July 15, 2005 – Several of the nation?s leading environmental groups came together Wednesday to issue a joint statement asking the US Navy to reconsider its plans to build an airstrip adjacent to a wildlife refuge. The groups said air and noise pollution, combined with potential damage from tens of thousands of plane take-offs and landings, pose a threat to the refuge?s ecosystem. The announcement came a day after a third court victory in a row for opponents of the airfield.
In 2003, the Navy announced plans to open an "Outlying Landing Field in Eastern North Carolina," a project that would straddle two counties and abut the Pecosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, home to thousands of bird species and other animals, according to court filings.
Groups opposing the Navy?s plans include the Audubon Society, Defenders of Wildlife, the Southern Environmental Law Center, Sierra Club, National Wildlife Refuge Association and the North Carolina Wildlife Federation.
Opponents of the plan filed two separate suits, which were later consolidated into one by Eastern District Court Judge Terence Boyle. In February, Boyle issued an initial injunction against the Navy?s plans, pending further study of the matter.
In May, a Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling upheld the injunction. On Wednesday, Boyle made the injunction permanent, finding that the potential impact of the proposed project was "environmentally significant."
Defenders of Wildlife counts the Pecosin Refuge as one of the ten most endangered in the nation. It is considered an important wintering ground to tens of thousands of waterfowl and home to a handful endangered animal species, including the red fox, bald eagle and the red-cockaded woodpecker.
According to a June News & Observer article, the Navy is studying other sites for the OLF but prefers the originally proposed one because the human population in the area is less dense than many other potential spots. The field is projected to cost $168 million and is to be used for tests of a jet known as the Super Hornet, the paper said.
The Saint Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the Super Hornet costs $55 million each. Boeing has an $8.6 billion contract to build the planes through 2009.
