THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 28, 1995 TAG: 9509280365
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
It's a prime chunk of Suffolk land - once polluted, then abandoned and finally cleaned up by the Navy. Now it's up for grabs.
Officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Department of the Interior and others are clamoring for it. But when it comes to the city of Suffolk's bid for the land, local residents might have the final say.
Tonight, Suffolk citizens are invited to the last of several public meetings to help decide what the city could do with the abandoned Naval Radio Transmitting Facility near Driver - 597 acres of surplus government land with rare access to an unspoiled section of the Nansemond River.
The final public meeting will be held at 7 tonight in the library of Nansemond River High School, 3301 Nansemond Parkway.
After two previous meetings, consultants conducting the meetings say there is a growing consensus among Suffolk citizens to convert the land into an environmental research center, to be run possibly in conjunction with Old Dominion University, according to consultant H. Cales Givens.
A city recreational park and public recreation mixed with residential housing are two other options.
The Navy dumped toxins and debris on the property while it was a transmitting station.
For at least 20 years, one site at the facility ranked as one of the region's most contaminated ``hot spots.'' Cleanup has been under way since 1980, and Navy officials say the facility should be restored by December 1996.
A report from consultants is due in November to the Secretary of the Navy, who will have the final say.
City officials have said they are yearning for riverfront property. Other than a boat launch at Constant's Wharf near downtown Suffolk, the city has no public access to the 18 miles of Nansemond River that flow through it.
As part of the closure process, the property's host city can gather citizen input for a future use of the land. It remains unknown if the city will support whatever these public meetings recommend. by CNB