A Long Fight Is Finally Over

By: Andrew Doud/Eyewitness News 9 | WNCT
Published: January 22, 2008

It's been a long fight, but the battle is finally over.

The Navy announced this afternoon it’s pulling Site "C" from the table. The land in Beaufort and Washington counties has been the Navy's top choice for an outlying landing field for years now. Environmentalists, state officials and farmers have long opposed the site.

The Navy says the original sites in North Carolina were taken off the table today because of population, environmental factors and operational requirements.

You drive around the area and you can't miss the opposition to the OLF. People have signs in their yards, on their vehicles and other places. Today,some people they spoke with say they can finally start planning for the future.

The Navy has not abandoned the idea of an outlying landing field altogether. They are now considering sites in Currituck and Camden counties. The Navy feels those areas are more suitable for a jet landing strip. The analysis of the newly proposed sites should take close to three years.

So, no matter where they decide to build, the idea of an OLF in North Carolina will be several years in the making.