1ST CD Issue: Outlying Landing Field

Submitted by Betsy Muse on Fri, 07/21/2006 - 7:27am.

Today I'm going to introduce you to an issue that may only impact the 1st Congressional District in the short run, but certainly the environmental concerns impact us all. The U.S. Navy has proposed a location for a practice landing field near the winter nesting site of 100,000 Tundra Swans, geese and other migratory birds. The 34-acre site affects land in Beaufort and Washington Counties and other surrounding counties.

Most of us can read that introduction and see the red flags. the environmental impact of this airfield would border on disastrous. Anyone familiar at all with the area can list off the names of the wildlife refuges that dot our coastal region. We can all probably imagine the harm the noise and jet fuel will cause.

Join me on the flip side...

There's another issue at hand, as well. Pilot safety. Does anyone know what happens when a bird gets sucked into a jet engine? As a matter of fact, on the first test flight in the area that the Navy conducted in December of 2005 the jet had to bank to miss a flock of a thousand Tundra Swans.

We won't even get into the eminent domain and property rights issues. As you can see, there's something in this issue for everyone.

I'm not going to detail this for you. I'm going one better. I'm inviting Jennifer Alligood, the chairman of NO-OLF to blog here at BlueNC. I will let her know our planned schedule for the first district, but hope she will visit before that time and let others in her area know about this site.

Here are a couple of great sources. If you aren't familiar with this issue, don't wait for Jennifer to stop by. Go read now.

NoOlf.com
Southern Environmental Law Center

These are excellent sources. Enjoy.

0

I'm enjoying a cup of coffee outside

Submitted by Betsy Muse on Fri, 07/21/2006 - 7:59am.

and my battery is about to die. I'll check in with ya'll later.

momoaizo's picture

Biddy Dole

Submitted by momoaizo on Fri, 07/21/2006 - 8:27am.

Had been fighting this, last i heard...has the RNC told her to stop?

Actually, my understanding

Submitted by Betsy Muse on Fri, 07/21/2006 - 8:39am.

is Judge Boyle of the 4th Circuit has told the Navy they have to do a more in-depth environmental impact study. Results should be out in early 2007. So we have a little more time to help the farmers, families and environmentalists in this area.

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

And Helms begat Reagan...


Arguably, Ronald Reagan's Helms enabled win in the 1976 NC primary was all the encouragement he needed to try again in 1980, setting the stage for the Reagan Revolution and synergistic escapades like this one...

TrueMeckDem on Myers Park Pat

"My opinion of Pat has changed over the years. I used to think he was truly a man of the people but the longer he has been mayor, the less I think of him.

As with most cities, Charlotte has three political parties: Dem, Rep, and Chamber of Commerce. Pat is definitely the puppet of the COC here. What is good for business is good for Charlotte and Pat ... very personable guy, he has gotten a bunch of Dems in these parts to vote for him but I don't trust him."

Join the discussion here.