BCA enlists legal assistance to fully remediate Buxton Beach. Next meeting is Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.
The Buxton Civic Association (BCA) recently retained legal counsel to assist with their ongoing efforts to ensure full remediation of Buxton Beach, with details of the new partnership to be discussed at the organization’s monthly public meeting on Wednesday, October 9, at 7:00 p.m.
The firm, Perkins Coie LLP, has 21 offices in the United States, Asia, and Europe, and has an esteemed reputation for both litigation achievements and their pro bono initiatives.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) is currently conducting one of the largest petroleum remediation efforts in 13 months, since two offshore hurricanes caused severe erosion, revealing abandoned infrastructure and petroleum smells from Buxton’s former Navy/U.S. Coast Guard base.
As a result, a roughly half-mile stretch of beach at the end of Old Lighthouse Road has been closed since September 2023.
This stretch of Buxton Beach is part of the Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS) program, which means that the ACOE is responsible for addressing the petroleum contaminants related to Navy activity from 1956-1982, while the Coast Guard is responsible for other potential contaminants from their use of the site from roughly 1985-2010.
However, debate remains on which agency is willing to clean up the leftover military infrastructure, such as the concrete foundation of the Navy’s former Terminal Building, or the dune-embedded PVC pipes from the Coast Guard’s former drain field.
“While we recognize that the actions recently taken by the ACOE are a huge step in the right direction, we still have significant concerns about complete and total remediation, including the removal of the physical hazards that are the result of infrastructure that should have been removed, and was not,” said BCA board member Heather Jennette.
“Mr. Jensen and his partners at Perkins Coie have impressive experience dealing with divisions of government and environmental concerns, and he has a personal connection to the island. We feel like he is the right person to represent the BCA.”
Thomas Jensen of Perkins Coie is a homeowner on Hatteras Island, and was retained by the BCA on September 14.
“He was recommended by the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), who usually is on the opposing side of legal matters [when it comes to his firm],” said BCA board member Brian Harris. “Once again, we are bridging gaps and bringing opposite sides together.”
On October 1, Jensen and the BCA sent a letter to the decision-makers at the ACOE outlining all concerns related to the removal of infrastructure, which can be viewed here.
The letter references the historic agreements signed with the National Park Service when the two military branches used the site, which stated that the property would be left exactly as they found it, in pristine National Seashore condition.
“We ask that you use your authority to ensure that the remediation and restoration work at Cape Hatteras extends beyond removal of contaminated sand to include removal of all infrastructure left behind by the Navy and Coast Guard… It is a federal mess,” reads the letter.
“No private or non-federal government parties are responsible. There can be no question that it is a federal responsibility to ‘clean up and restore the site.’ And there is no question that the Navy and Coast Guard committed, on behalf of the federal government, to get the clean-up and restoration done.”
The Buxton Civic Association holds monthly public meetings at the old Buxton Volunteer Fire Department building next to Burrus Field. The next meeting is Wednesday, October 9, at 7:00 p.m.
Developing info from the Buxton Civic Association (BCA) can be accessed via the organization’s website at Buxtoncivic.com or through the BCA’s official Facebook page.
