North Carolina’s governor and two U.S. senators told the Navy today that local support is essential to placing a proposed practice airfield in the state.
They suggested that a site closer to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point might be more acceptable, reports Wade Rawlins.
"We take the position that if an outlying landing field were to be located in North Carolina, the Navy must work more effectively to secure the general support of the local population,“ Sens. Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr and Gov. Mike Easley wrote in a Dec. 4 letter to Donald Winter, secretary of the Navy.
“And we see little purpose in your pending announcement of a narrowed list unless the issue of economic benefits for the affected communities is squarely addressed.”
The Navy wants to build a $230 million training airfield in a remote area for fighter pilots to simulate night landings on aircraft carriers.
Read more after the jump.
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The Navy initially targeted five sites in Eastern North Carolina and chose as its preferred location a 30,000-acre expanse of farmland near a wildlife refuge straddling Washington and Beaufort counties. That site was blocked by broad political opposition.
As a result, a new effort has started to find alternative locations for the outlying landing field in North Carolina or Virginia.
The senators and governor said the proposed sites in Camden and Gates counties in northeastern North Carolina were 120 miles from Cherry Point — too far to enjoy the $30 million in projected economic benefits from the jet squadrons that would be based there. Most squadrons would based at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia.
“We offer that another site closer to Cherry Point might be more acceptable to residents,” they said.
The Navy has not set a date to release a new list of sites for more in-depth study.
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