Last public hearing held on proposed N.C. landing field
Dec 23, 2021 | 4:03 am ET
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. —
About 300 people attended the last of seven public hearings on the Navy’s proposal to build a landing field in eastern North Carolina and once again, they criticized the plan to put the filed near a wildlife refuge.
"It’s the same thing as putting a boiler factory in a hospital," Charles Bennett, a N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission member from Matthews, said at the hearing Tuesday.
A mock Navy F/A-18 jet was parked outside the convention center where the hearing was held and where critics criticized the Navy for wanting to the field near the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, home to about 80,000 large tundra swans and snow geese during the winter.
Opponents hope an increased opposition among politicians will force the Navy to choose site other than 30,000-acre site in Washington and Beaufort counties. Since the hearings began last month, Gov. Mike Easley, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and eight North Carolina members of Congress have stated opposition to the site.
Also opposing the site are the state wildlife commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"I’m the most optimistic I’ve been. I think we’re getting pretty close" to winning, said Buster Manning, a fifth-generation farmer whose land is part of the 30,000 acres the Navy wants for the landing field. (more…)
Raleigh, NC
