Air space expansion hits a snag

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North Carolina
THE DAILY NEWS
Air space expansion hits a snag
By Pat Coleman
January 22,2004

CHERRY POINT - Marine Corps officials say expansion of air space it uses
over eastern North Carolina has been in the works since 1987, but
plaintiffs in a lawsuit allege it is tied to the Navy's hotly contested
outlying landing field, scheduled for construction in Washington County.

"It's just a matter of timing," said Dan Brown, deputy director of
Operations, Marine Corps Bases Eastern Area.

"The timing of the OLF and MOA (Military Operational Areas) are
coincidental. Folks opposed to the OLF are trying to make a point that
they're together."

Two civil suits against the Navy, both filed on Jan. 9 in Raleigh with
the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, say
the environmental impact statement conducted for the OLF and the
environmental assessment, conducted for the MOA, are based on incomplete
evaluations of the projects.

In response to the approval to expand air space use, the Southern
Environmental Law Center filed a lawsuit on behalf of three wildlife
organizations. The suit claims the Navy violated provisions of the
National Environmental Policy Act, which require a more extensive,
objective evaluation of the effects of expanding air-space use.

"There's been this issue that aircraft will fly through the MOAs to the
OLF," Brown said.

"F/A-18s flying out to the OLF fly a specific route that will not
transit the MOA. Aircraft flying out to the MOA, which is not designated
for carrier practice, would not use the airspace for the OLF. That's
been a real point of misunderstanding."

Daniel Boyette, a New Bern flight instructor, said the military's routes
to and from various training sites are clearly marked on aeronautical
charts.

"Neither one of the MOAs will even be touching the OLF," he said.
"They're not even going to be close to it."

Jack Trabucco, manager of the fixed-base operation at New Bern's airport
and a retired Air Force pilot with 26 years of flight experience,
pointed out environmental concerns of bird-plane collisions are not
valid since military aircraft flying at low altitudes routinely use
bombing ranges near wildlife areas.

"They're doing low-level work with those fighters, and they're not being
struck by birds," he said. "Birds are smarter than we think they are."

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