Army Corps removes pipe from old beach side Navy site, taking more samples
BUXTON, N.C. (WAVY) — Leaders from the Army Corps of Engineers told Buxton residents at a Tuesday night hearing that they have to wait for test results and funding from D.C. before taking action on cleaning up oil from a former Navy site.
Petroleum sheen and odor sparks investigation at the Buxton Beach Access
Once thought to be removed from the beach, years of erosion show much of the old Navy site left behind — concrete slabs, thick metal cabling and many pipes stick out of the sand.
Naval Station Cape Hatteras was put into Buxton in the 1950s. It was later placed in the hands of the Coast Guard in the 1980s before being dismantled, then turned over to the National Park Service. It is believed to be the first Navy base to detect a Soviet submarine.
In September 2023, beach goers reported an oily sheen on the water, smells of petroleum, and surfers coming out of the ocean with oil on their wet suits. As a result, the park service closed a roughly 0.3 mile stretch of beach.
Closure at Buxton Beach Access due to petroleum smell, sheen in water
At Tuesday night’s hearing, Col. Ronald Sturgeon with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Savannah District announced that his team removed a more than 70 foot-long pipe, reported to be contaminated with oil. Sturgeon said the cost to remove it and sample surrounding areas was about $525,000.
He spoke to the complexity of the site, where storms can cover up much of the foundation — repeatedly exposed as the sand recedes back into the Atlantic.
“Sometimes you see things and a day later, it could be covered — a truly complex site and a very unique situation down here,” Sturgeon said, adding that “the Savannah District (is) all-in, and we hear the concerns. If there’s contamination in the area, the additional sampling will occur.”
He said any site they find to be contaminated will be remediated.
Corps leaders said they are not actively removing the rest of the foundation. In order to get funding to remove part of an old defense site, it has to pose an active danger. People at the hearing got a chance to speak directly with the Corps.
“This is obviously quite important to us,” one Buxton resident said. “The paramount issue now is that our community is being polluted, our people are being poisoned.”
Years ago, the Corps said they removed about 4,000 tons of contaminated soil and 37 oil tanks.
People at the hearing asked the Corps if there are oil tanks underground. Corps leaders told them that they do not know. They are waiting on test results before removing other parts of the site.
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