BUXTON, N.C. (USACE) – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, has completed its initial analysis of historical documentation, information gathered during site visits and soil samples since peat balls containing petroleum appeared in September on a section of shoreline in Buxton, N.C., near the former U.S. Navy facility.
The Savannah District’s Formerly Used Defense Site Program team continues to coordinate its efforts with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality as investigative efforts progress toward determining any necessary corrective actions.
While tremendous progress in technologies and techniques addressing environmental contamination have been made throughout the years, currently, there isn’t a fail-proof method that will provide a 100 percent certainty all environmental concerns are discovered and can be completely addressed. The Corps does everything it can to ensure when its work is complete, human health and the environment are protected.
Independent regulatory agencies provide oversight to the Corps’ work, and the community is an important stakeholder in the process. Therefore, the Corps will return to a site to investigate information that may indicate its work there is not yet complete.
“We will continue to work with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality regulators on this matter,” said Carl Dokter, Savannah District’s Formerly Used Defense Sites Program manager. “We are obligated to follow the predetermined processes to reach a consensus with the regulator. Taking immediate action without following the process could result in more problems.”
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers executes the FUDS program on behalf of the U.S. Army and the Department of Defense. The FUDS program cleans up properties formerly owned by, leased to, or otherwise possessed, by the United States and then transferred outside of DOD control prior to October 1986.
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Release no. 23-026