SAVANNAH, Ga. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Savannah District has awarded a contract to initiate a new interim response action and will deploy a contracted team as early as next week to begin work at the former Buxton Naval Facility, a Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS) property located within Cape Hatteras National Seashore, in Dare County, North Carolina.
The National Park Service (NPS) reported a petroleum odor and a slight sheen to the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Coast Guard’s National Response Center Aug. 2. Subsequently, the NPS sent out a news release announcing the closure of the three tenths of a mile FUDS property shoreline, again. The same stretch of beach that was reopened June 12, 2025, following the Army Corps of Engineers’ prior interim response action.
In response to the NPS report, the Savannah District Commander, Col. Ron Sturgeon, the deputy district engineer for programs and project management and an environmental engineer and a geologist from the FUDS team deployed to the Buxton Naval Facility FUDS property Aug. 4-5, 2025, to assess the area to determine the best course of action.
"We are committed to the health and safety of the community,” said Sturgeon. “The beach environment is difficult and changes from day-to-day, but we are dedicated to finding the petroleum contamination and removing it.”
National Park Service personnel joined Sturgeon and his team at the property Aug. 5, and he determined to proceed with a response action, based on his assessment of site conditions.
Initially, the contracted response action team will monitor the site conditions and take appropriate containment actions, such as placement of oil-absorbent booms around the perimeter of any observed petroleum.
The Savannah District will concurrently mobilize equipment and personnel to excavate and remove petroleum-impacted soil from the beach and dunes.
These actions will not affect the upcoming petroleum comprehensive soil and groundwater sampling that begins in September/October 2025.
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