A bill would bar landing fields within counties

State News

June 29, 2009

CAMDEN — A defense spending bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives would bar the Navy from building a jet practice landing field in two North Carolina counties, the congressmen said Friday.

The measure still needs Senate approval.

Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., added the provision to the spending bill that the House approved Thursday. The measure prohibits establishment of an Outlying Landing Field in Gates or Currituck counties.

Navy officials want the field to add space for F/A-18 Super Hornets to practice carrier takeoffs and landings before deployments. Besides two sites in North Carolina, the navy is exploring three sites in southeastern Virginia near Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach where the jets are based.

“The people of eastern North Carolina have spoken loud and clear on this issue. If the OLF is needed to support F/A-18s operating out of Oceana Naval Air Station, then Virginia should bear the burden,” Jones said.

The $200 million project was proposed after the Navy abandoned plans to build the field in Washington County, where opponents successfully sued for breaching the National Environmental Policy Act.

Pilots now prepare for night carrier landings at Oceana and Fentress Auxiliary Landing Field in Chesapeake, both of which are crowded by suburban development.

The Navy contends that it needs another strip to relieve the pressure on Oceana and Fentress.

The Navy plans to base eight new squadrons of the Super Hornet at Oceana and two squadrons at Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station in North Carolina.

A spokesman for Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., said Butterfield supported the measure because the people he represents in Gates County didn’t support the landing field.