Opponents of a proposed outlying landing field in Washington and Beaufort counties said at a press conference Tuesday that the U.S. Navy’s persistent legal pressure to develop the site is a threat for all North Carolina property owners.
Meanwhile, lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle, whose injunction has stalled development of the landing field, to allow the Navy to spend about $5 million to continue planning for the training strip that it wants to build. Boyle, who issued his ruling in April, rejected a previous request by the Navy in August to lift the injunction. The Navy has an appeal of Boyle’s decision pending in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Members of North Carolinians Opposed to an Outlying Landing Field said at the press conference at the State Capitol that they might pursue legal action based on property- rights grounds. Much of the previous opposition had been based on environmental concerns, because of the site’s proximity to the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, where thousands of waterfowl live.
While many conservationist groups have expressed disapproval of the project, the NO OLF group believes that the potential Navy seizure of property for the landing field has implications for the entire state.
“They have to justify the use of their land,” said Beaufort County Commissioner Hood Richardson, a Republican. “We know there are better places.”
He said the group was not abandoning the environmental aspect of its argument against the landing field.
“We need to look at each citizen and see how they’ve been affected,” Richardson said.
Leaders of NO OLF said that if the Navy was allowed to proceed, no property owners would be protected in North Carolina, and that the federal government could even seize Grandfather Mountain to use for nuclear waste storage, for example.
The coalition of environmental groups successfully persuaded congressional leaders to cut funding for the Navy OLF from $95.7 million to $30 million. But Jennifer Alligood, chairman of NO OLF, said elected officials from North Carolina in state and the federal government have not sufficiently responded to their concerns, and are doing little to preserve their property rights.
“We have no protection,” Alligood said.
Members of NO OLF said they had sought the reversal of a state statute passed in 1907, which grants blanket consent from the state, permitting the federal government to acquire land for any purpose. Alligood said the group was considering a constitutional challenge unless state lawmakers overturned the law. However, no elected officials would take up their cause, they said.
“Our political leaders have abandoned us,” Richardson said.
Paul Chesser is associate editor of Carolina Journal. Contact him at [email protected].