Petroleum sheen and odor sparks investigation at the Buxton Beach Access

Nick Broadway
·2 min read

BUXTON, N.C. (WAVY) — While going to the beach in the Buxton area of Hatteras Island, you might notice an oily sheen paired with an odor of petroleum in the water, but why is that?

National Park Service officials told 10 On Your Side this part of Cape Hatteras is no stranger to pollution. The contaminants date back to the 1980’s when the Navy used the site. While they have not definitively found out if the Navy caused the pollution, they said the evidence is within the footprint of other contaminants found to be caused by the Navy.

Closure at Buxton Beach Access due to petroleum smell, sheen in water

When Naval Facility Cape Hatteras moved out, the US Coast Guard took over the site. Since then, petroleum odors and sheens would come and go — on the sand, in the water and even in some of the soil.

In the early 2000’s, the Army Corps of Engineers removed about 4,000 tons of petroleum contaminated soil and shipped it out to a landfill.

But the petroleum odors came back, becoming especially potent last fall.

The park service closed part of the beach last September, noticing extreme erosion and petroleum smells. Now the closure expanded to about three tenths of a mile after visitors reported feeling oil from the water stick to them.

“Surfers and other folks that entered the water next to this site that reported seeing a sheen on the water, smelling the odor of petroleum and then even having some coating of petroleum substance on them that retained an odor even after they got out of the water,” explained David Hallac, Superintendent of National Parks of Eastern North Carolina.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore is working with the Army Corps of Engineers and the US Coast Guard to investigate this surge in petroleum odors. They are hosting a meeting Wednesday night to give an update on what they found out so far.

The meeting will be held at the Fessenden Center in Buxton at 6:00 p.m.

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