Hagan and Burr agree on OLF | hagan, agree, north - Local - Sun Journal

Hagan and Burr agree on OLF hagan, agree, north - Local - Sun Journal

June 07, 2010 7:57 PM


Sun Journal Staff

North Carolina’s opposing party senators are on the same page of the Senate Defense Authorization bill with amendments to prevent an OLF in Northeastern North Carolina and support studies on water contamination at Camp Lejeune.

Details of the bill were released Monday by the Senate Armed Services Committee for full Senate consideration. Sen. Kay R. Hagan, D-N.C., and Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., sit on the committee.

“This amendment restricts funding for an Outlying Landing Field (OLF) in North Carolina and Virginia until the Department of the Navy justifies the cost of its construction in a series of exhaustive studies that are to be submitted to the congressional defense committees,” a Burr spokesman said.

The amendment also asks for criteria for basing the F-35C aircraft-carrier version of the Joint Strike Fighter aircraft and a description of the OLF facilities required to support its training.

Hagan said in a release, “The Navy has existing OLFs and military airfields. These facilities must be evaluated before planning any new OLF, which I, along with the citizens of North Carolina, strongly oppose.”

The senators’ Lejeune amendment requires the Navy to assist the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to complete its studies crucial to getting to the bottom of water contamination problems at Camp Lejeune. The scientific research agency of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention needs full Navy cooperation to identify all relevant water contamination documents.

The amendment, first included in the Defense Appropriations bill by Hagan last year, also includes a provision to keep the Navy from disposing of water contamination claims before the studies are complete.