Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce requests immediate action at Buxton Beach

The Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce released a letter on Monday, April 1, to 18 legislators and stakeholders requesting an immediate solution for the contamination at Buxton Beach.

The Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce is the latest organization to join a growing call for agencies to take action to remediate a small stretch of closed shoreline at the end of Old Lighthouse Road. At the March 4 meeting of the Dare County Board of Commissioners, the seven-member Board passed a resolution requesting immediate action that was sent to 27 individuals, including legislators and representatives of federal agencies.

A community letter campaign was also launched in mid-March, and a March 27 public meeting on the issue, hosted by the National Park Service, drew a crowd of roughly 90 Hatteras Island community members. After the meeting, several attendees said they were in the beginning stages of forming an organized group that would create a united and vocal front on the issue.

A roughly 500-yard stretch of beach next to the Buxton Beach access has been closed to the public since two offshore hurricanes – Idalia and Franklin – brushed the Outer Banks in early September 2023, revealing old infrastructure and new, sporadic waves of petroleum smells and sheens.

Background information on the current Buxton Beach issues can be found here, and the Chamber of Commerce’s April 1 letter is below, and can also be viewed in its entirety here.

 The Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce represents nearly 850 businesses and over 3,000 employees along the 120 miles of Eastern North Carolina coastline, this includes the area of Buxton on Hatteras Island. The Outer Banks Chamber is asking you to find a solution to the beach and water contamination in Buxton’s Old Lighthouse Beach at the site of the former Navy and Coast Guard Station.

This contamination is impacting an important area of beautiful shoreline; one that, if not contained and a solution found quickly, will have detrimental implications for our businesses, rental properties, hotels, restaurants and residents. This has the potential to become a reason our visitors will find to change their summer vacation plans and go elsewhere thus impacting the local economy during peak season.

We ask that you preserve this national treasure (the Cape Hatteras National Seashore) and secure the funding and address this situation in the short-term before the summer season begins. Your support in finding a solution is very much appreciated.

With Warm Regards,

Robert DeFazio. Chairman of the Board

Karen S. Brown, MBA,CCE, President & CEO