A: After a significant erosion event in September 2024 that produced petroleum sheens on the beach, the USACE team took immediate action and quickly assessed the situation, developed a two-phase response plan, and effectively initiated the response. Excavations started on October 2, 2024, and were completed on December 10, 2024. Replanting of dunes and other areas that were disrupted was completed June 16, 2025.

A: On August 02, 2025, the National Park Service (NPS) reported a petroleum odor and a slight sheen to the USACE. On August 04, 2025, the USACE Savannah District Commander, Col. Ron Sturgeon, the deputy district engineer for programs and project management, an environmental engineer, and a geologist from the Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) Program deployed to the Buxton FUDS property to assess the area.

On August 06, 2025, USACE awarded a contract for petroleum containment and limited soil removal. The contractor arrived onsite on August 08, 2025, and is monitoring the site daily.

USACE awarded a new contract for an additional response action on September 11, 2025, similar to the one conducted in late 2024, to remove petroleum-impacted soil. 

A: Congress established the Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP) on 17 October 1986 with passage of Section 211 of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA). The DERP includes several different programs, one of which is the Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) Program. The Department of Defense (DOD) tasked the U.S. Army with carrying out the FUDS program and execution of the program was delegated to USACE. FUDS restoration efforts are restricted to cleaning up properties formerly owned by, leased to, or otherwise possessed, by the Unites States and transferred outside DOD control prior to October 1986.

For more information about DERP, click on the following link:

https://www.denix.osd.mil/derp/about/

For more information about the FUDS Program, click on the following link:

https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Environmental/Formerly-Used-Defense-Sites/

A: USACE has performed significant environmental restoration actions within the Buxton Naval Facility FUDS Property. The Buxton Naval Facility FUDS property projects include:

• Project 01: Opened to address aboveground storage tank removal in 1989 and 1991.  Reopened May 2024, to include additional work, including the ongoing response action (Phase I and Phase II).
• Project 02: Opened to demolish a communication tower, but was closed out September 1991, after the tower was determined to be beneficially re-used by the U.S. Coast Guard.
• Project 03: Opened to address soil contamination identified after underground storage tank removal. USACE removed contaminated soil and infrastructure. Since 2005, USACE has performed groundwater monitoring events to evaluate natural attenuation. Groundwater injection treatment was completed in 2020 and 2021.

A: From September 2023 to August 2024, reports of petroleum, sheen, and odors at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore FUDS property were sporadic and limited to a three-tenths of a mile section of beach. To identify the potential source, USACE sent teams in September, October, November, and December 2023, as well as February, May and June 2024, to collect soil samples, perform borings, dig test pits, take air samples, excavate soil to investigate the potential presence of a tank, remove a suspect pipe and perform geophysical work, and inspect beach conditions.

A: After a significant erosion event in September 2024, that produced petroleum sheens on the beach, the Savannah District team took immediate action and quickly assessed the situation, developed a two-phase response plan, and effectively initiated the ongoing phased response actions. As part of the first phase, a USACE team arrived on-site on September 11, 2024, to mitigate any petroleum release into the ocean and perform a test pit investigation to better define the extent of petroleum-impacted soil. The team did not identify any active petroleum releases. The second phase is ongoing and involves identifying and removing petroleum-impacted soil in the subsurface and performing confirmatory soil sampling in areas along the beach and dunes. Excavations began on October 2, 2024, and as of November 6, 2024, we have removed approximately 1,442 cubic yards and 24,126 gallons of petroleum-impacted soil and water, as well as approximately 138,400 pounds of concrete, 1,153 feet of pipes and 1,088 feet of metal cables and wires. USACE, in close coordination with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ), will continue to investigate this area to ensure protection of human health and well-being of the community and environment. Imagery of response action work can be viewed on our Flickr account at Savannah Corps Flickr.

A: In 1985, USACE removed two buildings (#40 and #19) and associated structures from the former Buxton Naval Facility FUDS property. The funding and authority were provided in a 1984 Congressional appropriation that provided specific authority to remove “unsafe or unsightly buildings and debris.” USACE found the two buildings and associated structures to be unsightly, not unsafe. These appropriations, which granted narrow authority, have long since expired and are no longer available.

A: When Congress created the FUDS Program in 1986, building demolition and debris removal work was limited to “unsafe” buildings and structures in such a state when transferred out of DOD control. When the Navy ceased control of the Buxton Naval Facility in 1982, buildings and structures were safe, and the vast majority of the facility was subsequently and beneficially used by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG). Current unsafe conditions are a result of the remnant Navy infrastructure being exposed by erosion on the beach. These conditions did not exist when the property was transferred from Navy control in 1982. For these reasons, USACE does not have the authority under the FUDS Program to address these conditions. We have relayed this information to The National Park Service, the land manager, so they can pursue an alternative way forward to remove the remnant infrastructure. The limited remnant infrastructure that is being removed by the ongoing response action is incidental to accessing and excavating soils underlying the infrastructure within the subdivided areas along the beach and dunes.

A: The Cape Hatteras National Seashore is currently under the administrative custody, control, and management of the U.S. National Park Service. USACE does not have control over access to the beach. Questions regarding the beach closure or its management should be directed to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

A: USACE removed petroleum contaminated soil in 2004 and has been remediating the groundwater since 2005. USACE experts injected a product into the groundwater that treats petroleum-related contamination at varying levels. From there, USACE has performed quarterly sampling of groundwater to verify the remaining contamination is decreasing. These sampling events are ongoing. For a while now, the only remaining contamination consisted of low levels of methylnaphthalene in one monitoring well. Methylnaphthalene is a daughter product of petroleum, and the low levels indicated the source was being addressed. As of March 2024, groundwater sampling results indicate that detected concentrations of any petroleum contaminants were below the Environmental Protection Agency Regional Screening Levels and North Carolina 02L Groundwater Standards.

A: The USACE will comprehensively sample soil and groundwater within the project area with the intent to delineate the nature and extent of any petroleum contamination remaining at the FUDS property. The previously anticipated timeline for the start of fieldwork would have been September / early October 2025. However, the USACE  response action may hinder sampling efforts. Consequently, the USACE will postpone the comprehensive sampling until the FY25 Interim Response Action fieldwork is complete to ensure access to all areas.

A: A U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Site Inspection Report identified elevated lead in the soil and groundwater at the former firing range area.  USACE obtained a signed Inventory Project Report (INPR) on July 30, 2025, to approve Project 05. Project 05 will address lead contamination at the Small Arms Range. A Site Inspection (SI) would be the first step in beginning the restoration process. Project 05 does not currently have a start date.

A: The Cape Hatteras National Seashore is currently under the administrative custody, control, and management of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS). USACE does not have control over access to the beach. Questions regarding the beach closure or its management should be directed to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

In September 2023, following substantial coastal erosion, NPS closed Buxton Beach Access when abandoned facilities, construction debris, and septic systems associated with historic use of the area by the Navy and Coast Guard were observed along the beach which posed hazards to visitors. Additionally, visitors observed and reported a strong smell of fuel in the area.

On June 12, 2025, following the lifting of a precautionary public health advisory by Dare County’s Department of Health and Human Services, and after consulting with the U.S. Public Health Service, NPS reopened the three-tenths-of-a-mile stretch of beach.

NPS again closed the three-tenths-of-a-mile stretch of beach at Buxton Beach Access on August 2, 2025, due to the presence of petroleum odor and light sheens. Erosion caused by strong surf caused the loss of substantial amounts of beach sand and exposed petroleum-impacted soil.

Source: Buxton Beach Access - Cape Hatteras National Seashore (U.S. National Park Service) 

A: A RAB is a stakeholder advisory group that meets regularly to discuss environmental restoration at DOD sites, such as the Buxton Naval Facility FUDS property. A RAB is not a decision-making body but rather an opportunity for interested community members to be involved in the environmental restoration process and influence the cleanup decisions through discussions of ideas, concerns, questions, and the chance to provide direct input/feedback to the DOD entity and regulatory agencies. A RAB is a formal process and may only address issues with environmental restoration activities. During a public meeting held on November 4, 2024, USACE, Savannah District invited the public to take a survey to gauge the community’s interest in establishing a RAB. The public interest survey is available until December 4, 2024, and can be accessed through the following link https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BuxtonPublicInterestSurvey until December 4, 2024.