Posted on August 19, 2026
The Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) for the Buxton Naval Facility Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) property held its latest quarterly public meeting on Thursday, August 13, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Cape Hatteras Anglers Club in Buxton.
Though the meeting was short, some changes have been made to future RAB projects.
First, the RAB agreed to move from a fixed quarterly schedule to a bi-annual cadence, targeting January and July. This is not concrete, though, as they will guard the ability to call additional meetings if substantive new information arises (e.g., significant sampling results or any pertinent future decisions).
What’s more, Alyson Flynn with the North Carolina Coastal Federation is stepping down as a RAB member, nominating in her stead Dr. Lela Schlenker, who currently works at the NC Coastal Federation as a coastal advocate. Pending review from the RAB, her membership would maintain the same 13-member size.
The meeting comes as the sampling phase is set to begin in October of this year.
Excavation work completed by Bay West and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to remove petroleum-impacted soil was completed on April 11. The project included the following:
- Over 17,000 cubic yards of impacted soil excavated and removed
- Over 3.25 acres excavated to a minimum depth of 10 feet below ground surface
- Over 315,000 gallons of impacted water removed
- Over 275 feet of asbestos pipe removed
- Over 5,000,000 pounds of concrete removed
- Over 2,800,000 pounds of infrastructure debris removed (such as: abandoned utilities, fencing, asphalt, etc.)
As the summer season winds down, the field sampling phase starts up in October and will last through November.
Sampling efforts will be conducted by the joint venture of Nicklaus Engineering and EnSafe Engineering to investigate the site for any residual petroleum contamination that may have been left behind. This new phase of work includes two mobilization efforts, as presented by David Clexton, Principal for Nicklaus Engineering, in the last quarter’s meeting:
Complete High Resolution Site Characterization (HRSC) at the 110 location along the site map via:
- Direct Push Technology (DPT) to drill for sand and groundwater sampling
- Optical Image Profiler and Hydraulic Profiling Tools (OIHPT) to detect petroleum product in soil, as well as soil permeability, type, and lithology.
- Membrane Interface and Hydraulic Profiling Tool (MIHPT): detects volatile and semi-volatile petroleum hydrocarbons (SVOCs) in subsurface.
Collect deep groundwater samples at locations where exceedances are observed during the first mobilization.
- This includes vertical groundwater delineation
- Going up to 33 feet deeper, if circumstances prevail
Again, the sampling is neither inherently constrained to the existing map – if the situation dictates, and evidenced contamination leads beyond the scope of the site, they are allowed to sample further.
The sampling is also not restricted to petroleum, but other potentially harmful substances such as PFAS and PCB, though not across the entire grid. It must be noted that, however, the primary scope of this entire project is to mitigate petroleum and no other sources of contamination.
If more exceeding contamination is found, there are a multitude of remediation options. Most importantly, if any exceedances are found and prompt a return to the field before the full report, the RAB will receive documentation in monthly/weekly updates, explaining why additional sampling is occurring. These findings will also be documented in the Corrective Action Plan to address any further work that may be required, but that would not be funded until the end of 2028’s fiscal year.
The parties stated that by June of next year they will have a first draft of a report highlighting all funds it’s during this phase, but with the caveat that interim updates may be provided as soon as December or January, if there is sufficient—and, as USACE reiterated, validated—data available.
In addition, USACE has provided physical copies of all pertinent documents related to the work done at the FUDS site for public accessibility at the Fessenden Center in Buxton.
Background
The Buxton Naval Facility was originally constructed and operated by the U.S. Navy during the Cold War as a submarine monitoring station, before later use by the U.S. Coast Guard and eventual transfer back to the National Park Service as part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
Environmental investigations conducted decades after the site’s closure identified contamination tied to historic military operations, including petroleum products associated with fuel storage and power generation. Cleanup efforts are being carried out under the federal FUDS program, which is administered by USACE.
The next RAB meeting will take place on January 21, 2027, unless otherwise scheduled.
