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555 Dirksen Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Ph: 202.224.6342
Fax: 202.224.1100
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Raleigh Office:
310 New Bern Avenue
Suite 122
Raleigh, NC 27601
Ph: 919.856.4630
Toll Free: 866.420.6083
Fax: 919.856.4053
Salisbury Office:
225 North Main Street
Suite 304
Salisbury, NC 28144
Ph: 704.633.5011
Toll Free: 866.420.6084
Fax: 704.633.2937
Western Office:
401 North Main Street
Suite 200
Hendersonville, NC 28792
Ph: 828.698.3747
Fax: 828.698.1267
Eastern Office:
306 South Evans Street
Greenville, NC 27835
Ph: 252.329.1093
Fax: 252.329.1097
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Press Releases
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DOLE REINFORCES OPPOSITION TO OLF
Requests Meeting with Navy Secretary to Address Local Concerns |
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October 13th, 2008 - Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole wrote to Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter expressing her continued opposition to the Navy’s proposed Outlying Landing Field locations in northeast North Carolina.
“I have stated repeatedly that an OLF must enjoy the support of local residents,” Dole wrote. “At this point, I am aware of few if any residents in the Hale’s Lake or Sand Banks regions who support the construction of an OLF, regardless of any prospective economic benefits that might accrue in their region. For this reason, I cannot in good conscious support the establishment of an OLF in these communities.”
“We have much to discuss. I look forward to meeting with you at your earliest opportunity.”
Background:
Last year, after opposing the Navy’s preferred OLF site in Washington and Beaufort Counties (Site C), Dole, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, stripped the funding for an OLF at Site C from the defense bill.
On September 18, 2007, the governor and the Navy announced the new six potential North Carolina OLF sites (2 in Gates, 2 in Camden, Onslow/Jones border, Duplin/Pender border). Dole immediately reached out to local officials in affected counties for their feedback.
On September 27, 2007, in a letter to the Navy, Dole expressed serious concerns over the process the Navy and the Governor used to identify the six sites, writing: “Based on my office’s outreach to many elected leaders in the potentially affected communities…it appears that little if any effort was made to confer with local officials during the latest OLF site search… I cannot stress enough that broad local support for an OLF is essential, and I will oppose the Navy’s efforts to acquire any site in North Carolina that fails to meet this standard.”
On October 10, 2007, Dole met with officials from Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Gates, Hertford, Pasquotank and Perquimans Counties, who unanimously told her that they oppose an OLF in northeastern North Carolina because it would bring little to no economic benefits and affect the residents’ quality of life. Dole stated again that she would oppose any site that did not have local public support.
The following week, Dole facilitated a meeting in Washington D.C. between numerous county officials from northeastern North Carolina and high level officials from the Navy.
On November 13, 2007, Gov. Easley wrote to members of the North Carolina delegation, saying that the affected counties “were overwhelmingly opposed to an OLF and see almost all burden and no benefit.” His letter continued, “My recommendation is that you ask the Navy to take these views into account and develop alternative proposals.”
On November 14, 2007, Dole and Burr wrote a letter to Gov. Easley stating, “While we agree with your assessment that North Carolina residents and officials in potentially impacted areas are overwhelmingly opposed to an OLF, we disagree with your view that the best course of action is now for the congressional delegation to recommend that the Navy develop yet another list of potential locations – in addition to the 21 it is currently considering for an OLF.”
On December 4, 2007, Dole, Burr and Gov. Easley wrote to the Navy asking for clarification on the need for an OLF. The letter reaffirmed that the Washington County site is universally opposed and that the co-signers will not support it or any other site without broad local support.
On April 10, 2008, Dole wrote to Secretary Winter stating that she had found considerable resistance to the Navy’s two new site proposals in North Carolina from the constituents and elected officials that might be affected by an outlying landing field in their community. Additionally, Dole explained that she had been baffled that many months had passed since the new OLF sites had been identified and the residents in the impacted counties had yet to hear any compelling reasons why they should accept the facility.
On July 23, 2008, Dole wrote to Rear Admiral Anderson requesting that the Navy, where appropriate, provide local government officials in Camden and Gates Counties with information regarding the experience of the organization tasked with conducting the EIS process. Providing such information would help lend greater transparency to the process.
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