THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 21, 1995 TAG: 9507210530
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
Residents offered lots of ideas but reached no consensus Thursday when they gathered to discuss what should be done with the abandoned Naval Radio Transmitting Facility near Driver.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the city are vying for portions of the 597-acre property, which was closed by the Navy in 1993.
As part of the closure process, the property's host city can gather citizen input about future use. The secretary of the Navy will have the final say after Nov. 1.
``This is a plan we are developing for you and with you,'' H. Cales Givens, Suffolk's lead consultant for the site, told the audience of about 40.
Ideas for how to use the property included building a recreation center, affordable housing or a college campus. Some participants suggested giving the entire property to the Fish and Wildlife Service, saying the city did not have the wherewithal to manage it. Many suggested leaving the property untouched.
The radio transmitting facility once beamed messages from northern Suffolk to military personnel stationed throughout the Atlantic and the Caribbean. With the advent of satellite communication, however, the facility closed.
Much of the land is pristine, open and dotted with low-lying and upland marshes. It is an important stopover for migrating songbirds.
Fish and Wildlife has requested 285 acres of the property to help link the two sides of the little-known Nansemond National Wildlife Refuge, a preserve that is inaccessible except by the Nansemond River.
The city, however, is yearning for riverfront property and recreational opportunities. Other than a boat launch at Constant's Wharf, Suffolk has no public access to the 113 miles of the Nansemond River that pass through its borders.
A sliver of riverfront property between the two sections of the refuge will likely become the focal point of negotiations between Fish and Wildlife and the city. City officials have said they are willing to compromise.
There are drawbacks to buying the site. The Navy dumped huge amounts of toxins and debris in parts of it. For at least 20 years, one site at the facility was one of the most contaminated ``hot spots'' in all of Hampton Roads. A cleanup effort has been under way since 1980.
In addition, some of the remaining buildings on the property contain lead paint and asbestos. The Navy does not plan to demolish those structures.
Mark Deibert, an environmental coordinator overseeing the cleanup, said the Navy is ahead of schedule.
The contractor is preparing to again clean up Site No. 5, known as ``No Name Creek.'' After the area was cleaned before, the Navy found high levels of cancer-linked polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs - chemicals used in electrical transformers.
The Navy is saying the facility could get a clean bill of health from federal regulators by December 1996.
``We think we're well ahead of that schedule,'' Deibert said. ``We just don't know how well ahead.''
Two more meetings - one in late August and the other in September - are scheduled in Suffolk to gather more opinions of residents. by CNB