Warner rankles OLF forces

By BILL SANDIFER, Staff Writer

Virginia's top U.S. senator is not giving up a fight to convince all but the BRAC Commission that Virginia Beach and Naval Air Station Oceana are made for each other. An August decision by the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission would send all Super Hornet squadrons to Florida unless Virginia Beach, by April, meets drastic mandates to roll back development encroachment on Navy facilities. If Oceana's fighters are shipped to Florida, the need for an outlying landing field proposed for Washington and Beaufort counties would likely disappear: Florida's former NAS Cecil Field has its own OLF -- Whitehouse Field. Such fields are used to train pilots in aircraft carrier landings.

Sen. John Warner, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, wrote the Navy, saying he is "encouraged" by the recent narrowing of a court-ordered injunction that halted OLF progress in eastern North Carolina: "Quickly moving forward on this project will be a strong signal of the Navy's intent to rectify the operational constraints cited by the Commission at the Fentress OLF."

Fentress currently serves Oceana, but noise complaints from neighbors prompted the Navy to look outside the area for a new OLF.

Although the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld most of the district court's findings that resulted in the injunction, the appeals court panel narrowed the injunction to allow the Navy to continue planning and land purchases from voluntary sellers only. No condemnation is allowed against unwilling sellers.

Warner's Sept. 22 letter to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Mullen preceded by days a visit Mullen made to Oceana where he spoke on the future of the facility. His message, however, contained no promises.

"We have to find out the right thing for the long run for Virginia, Virginia Beach and the Navy," said Mullen. I can't be predictive, but I will tell you what I know, when I know it."

Mullen's comments were reported in NewsStand, a Navy newspaper. The report said Mullen told sailors the Navy is studying options -- expected to be completed by late November or early December -- for the future of a master jet base on the East Coast.

And despite threats by Warner and other congressional leaders to reject the entire BRAC package outright, the climate on Capitol Hill appears to favor acceptance of the recommendations. The president has already signed off on the report. On Tuesday, the House Armed Services Committee also lent its support in a 43-14 vote. House floor debate could begin as early as next week.

And despite what appears to be an uphill battle for Warner and Virginia, Washington and Beaufort county residents are none too happy with Warner's calls to move quickly on building a Washington County OLF.

"Move quickly?" asked Doris Morris, spokeswoman for North Carolinians Opposed to the OLF. "Why? What does move quickly mean? Before the (National Environmental Policy Act review) is complete? Forget pilot safety?"

Although the 4th Circuit agreed to allow limited Navy activities in Washington County, it also agreed with the lower court the Navy had failed to meet its obligations under NEPA and ordered supplemental studies. It criticized the Navy for not only failing to adequately assess environmental impacts but also the danger to pilots who would be forced to fly adjacent to and over a national wildlife refuge, migratory home to hundreds of thousands of waterfowl. The proposed OLF is less than five miles from a major stopover on the Atlantic Flyway.

The court singled out the Navy's failure to collect enough data to assess the hazard to pilots making repeated takeoffs and landings at the proposed practice field. It also ruled the Navy's own data conflicted with its conclusion that bird-aircraft collision hazards are manageable. The Navy has already suggested it may have to move its holding pattern to the west to provide additional clearance between its airspace and airspace near the refuge. Even then, the court has recognized a "cursory" site study by the Navy found that thousands of refuge birds fly through the OLF airspace several times a day as they forage in the area.

Warner's letter continued the criticism he has leveled at the BRAC Commission, stating several times the commission's report contained "unprecedented" recommendations not requested by the Department of Defense. Warner, himself, helped draft the legislation that created the commission, a commission designed to be independent and insulated from political pressure.

But Warner argues the commission appeared to ignore "certified data and sworn testimony" indicating the Navy's preference for keeping its master jet base at Oceana.

BRAC commissioners, however, disagreed with Warner and the Navy, making clear they felt Oceana's training climate had been badly compromised by encroachment, a point Navy attorneys stressed repeatedly in court in seeking to build an OLF in Washington County.

"Fortunately," wrote Warner, "this Commission is now, effectively, out of office." Although the BRAC commission is dissolved in April -- one month after Virginia Beach's make-or-break deadline -- enforcement of BRAC mandates is slated to fall to a federal inspector general.

During the Navy chief's visit to Oceana, Warner sought assurances Oceana would remain home to Super Hornets before Virginia and Virginia Beach spend large sums -- estimated to be $1 billion or higher -- to buy out or condemn more than 3,000 homeowners and businesses in crash zones around the airfields. Mullen acknowledged the need for promises but declined to make them.

"I have got to work my way through a very careful review of the options," The Virginian-Pilot quoted Mullen, "not just what the Navy is going to do, but clearly what the city of Virginia Beach and the state of Virginia will do."

In a letter with much the same language as Warner's, Virginia Gov. Mark Warner wrote the Navy, underscoring Virginia's commitment to support the Navy in its bid to build an OLF in Washington County, spurring pointed reactions locally.

"Let me assure you," said Morris, "that we remain a military friendly state, (but) when common sense is put into the right perspective, our land is not for sale to make up for the greed of developers in Virginia Beach."

The Virginia Beach City Council, over Navy objections, has a history of supporting developers. But the Navy has also taken its share of heat for not enforcing easements it has spent years acquiring, easements designed to prevent or modify development on land surrounding its airfields.

But before any other commitments are made, Morris suggests Warner needs to make a commitment of his own.

"Has Sen. Warner read or even looked at the scientific data," asked Morris, "that proves the high potential of harm that this proposed OLF site would create for our military pilots and the residents of this area? Has he, or any other senators, representatives, Navy personnel or members of the Armed Service Committee made any commitment to visit the proposed OLF site in the past or future?"

Morris and other Navy opponents have made clear, until the court's mandates for supplemental environmental studies are complete, grassroots opposition -- backed by OLF team attorneys -- will continue to block any efforts at a fast track.