AG 2004 01 26 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Secretary Gordon R. England November 2 l, 2003 Page 2 of 3 By letter of October 7, 2002, I informed the Navy that the State could not disagree with the Navy's consistency determination. The State's position was conditioned, however, upon there not being any significant changes in the types of aircraft, number of sorties, nature of training exercises or other activities described in the DEIS. (Copy attached.) The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) notes the 2002 consistency determination and State response: The Navy has determined that the proposed OLF would be undertaken in a manner conslstem to the maximum extent practicable with applicable, enforceable coastal zone management policies of Washington County. The North Carolina DEN-R, Division of Coastal Management has concurred with this determination. The project as described in the FEIS and selected in the Record of Decision is substantially different, however, from the proposal that the State reviewed for consistency in 2002. The differences include: Introduction of "surge operations" that could result in "a concentrated period of higher operational tempo", including increased flight operations at the OLF. Potential imroduction of other aircmf~ in addition to F/A-18 E/F in response to base closings at other training facilities such as Vieques, Puerto Rico. A decision to control impacts on surrounding property by acquiring 30,000 acres around the OLF in fee simple rather than obtain easements on the property. The final selection of the Washington County OLF site (out of the six potential locations identified in the DEIS and consistency determination) over sites that could be developed with less damage to coastal resources. All of these changes have the potential to significantly increase impacts on coastal resources. I also recently received a copy of a letter fi'om Ronald L. Men'itt to the Secretary of the Navy. Mr. Men'itt participated in a study of bird str~e risks commissioned by the Navy for each of the six proposed OLF sites. Mr. Men'itt believes that the bird strike risk at the Washington County site is unacceptably high because of the extremely large populations of waterfowl that winter around Pungo Lake. Mr. Merritt felt compelled to write the Secretary of the Navy because he believes the FEIS fails to accurately reflect the severe risk of bird strikes around the Washington County site. Apart fi'om the risk to Navy pilots, the situation described by Mr. Merritt represents a threat to the wintering swans and snow geese and to the fundamental purpose of Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.