Hatteras Islanders launch campaign to initiate immediate action at Buxton Beach

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on March 12, 2024. The Island Free Press is reposting this story based on feedback received from our community members at the March 27 meeting on Buxton Beach.

While government stakeholders are guardedly optimistic that the Buxton Beach Access clean-up is reaching a tipping point for action after years of military use, frustrated residents and visitors are simultaneously pushing legislators and stakeholders to resolve the matter without delay in a recently launched email and letter-writing campaign.

Dare County officials have already received numerous emails from constituents, visitors, and property owners asking how they can help force the issue, and a common thread in those emails, according to Hatteras Island Commissioner Danny Couch, is a request for who to contact to request action.

Deb Hoyt of Buxton, along with her husband, Ed, walk the shoreline that borders Buxton Beach daily, and they are part of this initial wave of concerned residents who are calling on officials for swift action.

Both have pressured their local representatives to collaborate with federal government agencies to resolve the issue, and conveniently, Deb Hoyt’s professional background includes considerable experience in strategic communications and grassroots legislative advocacy.

As a result, Hoyt has drafted a sample letter that the public can use to follow her lead and reach out to the decision-makers who can potentially expedite remediate efforts at Buxton Beach.

Hoyt also offers the following tips for effectively communicating with stakeholders and legislators on the contamination at Buxton Beach.

• Use a direct subject heading and proper salutation. The subject line should be something like “Buxton Beach Access contamination” or “Environmental concerns near Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.” Salutations are important and should reflect the position of who you are writing to.  such as, “Dear Administrator Regan”, “Dear Commander Symanski,” or “Dear Congressman Murphy”.
• Be brief, focused and clear. Begin your email by getting right to the point: “I’m writing about environmental and public safety concerns at the Buxton Beach Access at Cape Hatteras National Seashore due to many years of military use at the site.” 
• Be cordial, respectful and thankful. Public policy makers and officials have a thankless job and your email should reflect a polite and respectful tone. Self-righteous indignation will compromise your message and be counterproductive.
• Summary close and say Thank you. Briefly and simply recap your points and encourage specific action. Offer to speak with the legislator or stakeholder by providing a telephone number or email where you can be reached.

Susan Sigmon, a longtime property owner in Buxton with a passionate connection to the villages’ beaches and the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, also pushed for an effort to get the word out to legislators and stakeholders almost immediately after the depth and breadth of contaminants and debris became known.

Sigmon has followed the press coverage and social media, and summarizes the talking points as follows:

• Petroleum
• PCBs and pesticides
• Safety hazards, including but not limited to, construction materials such as cement, cables, steel, glass, and splintered wood
• The popularity of Buxton Beach, including its 2023 designation as the #5 beach in the country in the annual Dr. Beach’s 10 Best Beaches List.
• The popularity of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore itself, which had 2,826,169 visitors in 2023.

With Dare County officials making a trip to Washington, D.C. at the end of March to discuss the issue, and recent movement on behalf of the agencies linked to clean-up efforts, there’s hope that, months after contamination issues resurfaced, the lengthy list of environmental issues will be addressed.

In the meantime, Hoyt, Sigmon, and other concerned islanders who live in the shadow of the former military base are working hard to spread the word, and create a larger, louder voice of public concern.

For more information:

• Click here for the suggested email template from Deb Hoyt.
• Click here for a sample contact list of legislators and stakeholders.
• Click here for more information about the current issues at Buxton Beach.