Buxton Civic Association will hold public meeting on July 11 to discuss recent Buxton Beach developments

The Buxton Civic Association (BCA) will hold its monthly public meeting on Thursday, July 11, at 7:00 p.m. at the old Buxton Volunteer Fire Department Building next to Burrus Field.

The public meeting is an opportunity for the community to learn about recent updates and developments for the ongoing environmental and public safety issues at Buxton Beach, and the steps the BCA is taking to facilitate the remediation of the shoreline.

We haven’t shared much lately but often one doesn’t make noise when their nose is on the grindstone,” stated the BCA in an online update. “Please know that we are all still diligently working on various ways we hope to help restore and improve Buxton, including the beach issues.”

A three-tenths-of-a-mile section of Buxton Beach has been closed since September 2023 after two offshore hurricanes brushed the Outer Banks, exposing abandoned infrastructure from the site’s former military base, as well as occasional petroleum smells.

The consensus by stakeholders is that there are two agencies – the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Coast Guard – who are responsible for cleaning up the area. The petroleum smells and petroleum-contaminated soils (PCS) fall under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ FUDS program, however, there is some debate as to which agency will address the remaining Navy infrastructure and other debris on the beach.

Buxton Beach gained new attention in February 2024 after surfers in the area reported petroleum sheens on the water’s surface, and the BCA was formed in April to provide a centralized, community response to these environmental and public health issues.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed pipe removal work at the Buxton site in May, which included soil sampling. The data review of the soil samples is in process, and may be available in the next few weeks, or roughly 60-90 days after the original May testing occurred.

At the July 11 meeting, the BCA will provide updates on several corresponding initiatives that are in process to remediate this small but problematic section of the Buxton shoreline.

The public is welcome and encouraged to attend this meeting, and BCA board members are hoping that the local community will continue to stay involved in the ongoing efforts to fix Buxton Beach.

“We are just the community’s voice for Buxton,” said Brian Harris, BCA Board Member, in an earlier interview. “Everybody cares about this… [and] we’re going to explore every single option and figure something out, because ultimately, this has to be done.”

 For more information on Buxton Beach, and how to get involved

• The Buxton Civic Association meets the first Thursday of every month at the old Buxton Volunteer Fire Department building beside Burrus Field. The next meeting is July 11. and the public is welcome and encouraged to attend.
• Developing info from the Buxton Civic Association (BCA) can be accessed via the organization’s new website at Buxtoncivic.com or through the BCA’s official Facebook page.
• The public can also join the ongoing email and letter-writing campaign, which was launched in mid-March by Buxton community members.
• Visitors who encounter a fuel smell or fuel sheens while visiting the Buxton shoreline near Old Lighthouse Road should call the National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802 to report the encounter. Include the date, time, location, and basic details of what was seen or smelled, and do not call if you have not experienced the issue first-hand, or have not been physically affected.
• Remember that while the environmental issues at Buxton Beach are considered to be a public safety and environmental hazard, just three-tenths of a mile of the shoreline is closed, out of 75 miles of National Seashore. In short, the public can still visit and enjoy Buxton, and Hatteras Island in general. The primary concern is that this issue needs to be addressed now, before it potentially becomes a larger problem.