A statement from the Southern Environmental Law Center regarding today’s decision by U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle to grant a permanent injunction against the Navy’s plans to construct an Outlying Landing Field (“OLF”) in Washington and Beaufort Counties, North Carolina

We are pleased that Judge Boyle has rightly seen the grave errors behind the Navy’s decision to locate an OLF at this site. His decision to grant a permanent injunction will require the Navy to fully consider the impact the OLF will have on the local environment and to thoroughly consider other alternatives before it proceeds any further. In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of swans, snow geese and other migratory birds, as well as the communities of Washington and Beaufort counties are spared from an unnecessary and hazardous landing field.

Now that the courts have decided, it is time for North Carolina political leaders to take a stand against this landing field at this site.