BUXTON, N.C. — Progress. That's the word being used to describe the recent clean-up efforts by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District at the Buxton formerly used defense site.
This comes a month after residents and the Dare County Commissioners expressed to USACE that this work, that started in May, needed to be accelerated.
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“I don't know if photos hadn't been enough, or us saying, hey, this is a problem hadn't been enough, but that seemed to spawn an action," said Heather Jennette, a member of the Buxton Civic Association.
In early September, the USACE dispatched crews to the site after reports of additional fuel sheen and a petroleum odor. Just a few weeks after that, they brought in a new contractor for comprehensive sampling that is expected to take 60 days.
"The contractor began excavations along the beach and dunes on October 2, and then as the team encounters the petroleum impacted soils, they're removing them. We anticipate that excavation can take about 60 days to complete. As of October 9, we have removed about 16,500 pounds of concrete, that includes like concrete footing, a manhole and some associated rebar, about 45 and a half cubic yards of petroleum impacted soil and approximately about 210 feet of metal and PVC pipes," said Sara Keisler, USACE Savannah District FUDS program manager.
Watch: Crews ramp up efforts at Buxton Beach after most recent report of additional fuel sheen and petroleum odor
The Buxton Civic Association feels this has all been a step in the right direction.
"We're still very much sleeping with an eye open, but we're also really appreciative of how things have moved along, of the recognition that this is a problem," said Jennette.
“I think this is a really good way of showing them that we're removing those soils. And it just so happens we're able to remove that infrastructure to access those soils beneath it. I think the public will be extremely happy with being able to see the beach in a different manner," said Keisler.
The infrastructure removal is significant. Previously, the Army Corps of Engineers had made it clear that FUDS funding cannot and will not be used for structure removal of anything that is not contaminated with petroleum. But the soil they are excavating now is below the structures.
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“The infrastructure itself has not shown any contamination, but the contamination appears to be beneath that infrastructure, and that's why they're having to remove it in order to access the contaminated soils beneath," said Keisler.
“It feels like a big win for us. We kind of always held on to that hope, because logically, we thought there's no way you're going to get to the bottom of it without going through that," said Jennette.
The Buxton Civic Association says they will continue to push for a full clean-up of the entire site and have sought out legal counsel for that if needed. Next up for the project is the awarding a contract for sampling of soil and groundwater in the project area, that is expected to happen in November.
For an overview of the project's progress to now, head to our previous coverage here.
