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BOGUE FIELD COMMITTEE
http://www.geocities.com/boguefieldcommittee
P. O. Box 5232
Emerald Isle, NC 28594
Phone: 252-354-3786
E-Mail: [email protected]

March 23, 2001

Maj. Gen. Tom Braaten
CG MCAS
CG PSC Box 8003
Cherry Point NC 28533

Maj. Gen D. Krupp
CG MCAS
CG PSC Box 8050
Cherry Point NC 28533

Dear Sirs:

At the January 30, 2001, meeting of the Policy Committee of the ECJLUS, the Bogue Field Committee requested a moratorium prohibiting all flights over Emerald Isle and low level flights over populated areas until the USMC addressed issues regarding safety to the residents and tourists. Our request was accompanied by documentation of the AV-8B Harrier safety record including the safety concerns raised by the Harrier Review Panel (HaRP) due in part to lack of funding, training and maintenance. Four days later, another Harrier crashed at Cherry Point. We are sure that the USMC is concerned about safety but this event increased our anxiety.
The AICUZ Guidelines adopted by the DoN recognize safety concerns of development under the flight patterns. The map in the draft AICUZ 2001 for MCALF Bogue designates the entire flight path over residences, town houses, condos, shopping centers, a church, a daycare center, movie theaters, restaurants, gas stations and auditoriums. The AICUZ Guidelines classify that development as "incompatible due to density and concentration of people". Since we live under the flight pattern we feel we are entitled to the safety information gathered by the USMC.

The present JLUS in order to be meaningful has need of the Update to the MCAS Cherry Point 1988 AICUZ. Evaluations conducted to support the Update are necessary to understand the decisions with regard to noise and safety . Since taxpayer money is being used, the public also is entitled to the material. The release of the update of the 1988 AICUZ has been delayed numerous time and presently the date of release is unknown.

We would appreciate your co-operation in making the requested information available at your earliest convenience. In order to reduce the response time our questions are generally confined to the 2001 Update of the 1988 AICUZ as applied to Bogue Field operations.

1. Please identify and produce the safety risk assessment done by the DoN, the USMC or the DoD that states the risks to citizens in populated areas of flying low and slow in a small circuit training/landing pattern have been measured against the operational needs of the AV-8B squadron.

2. What AICUZ guidelines were used to justify a flight path over development that includes residences, town houses, condos, shopping centers, a church, a daycare center, movie theaters, restaurants, gas stations and auditoriums?

3. Due to the substantial increase in population density in Emerald Isle and the recent and earlier 77 Harrier crashes and the USMC's own questions about the Harrier reliability (HaRP), do the APZs take into consideration the reliability of the aircraft?

4. Please provide copies of any evaluations made by the USMC regarding using alternative landing fields Oak Grove or Atlantic to accomplish the mission designated for Bogue Field.

5. Provide updates to the projects P-032, P-051 that were identified in the 1988 AICUZ.

6. Please provide copies of any evaluations made by the USMC regarding using MCAS Cherry Point to accomplish the mission designated for Bogue Field.

7. Please provide the technical training of the person who prepared the maps designating the APZ zones and noise contours over the populated area of the proposed flight path.

8. According to the 1988 AICUZ the noise contours were established for Bogue Field in 1980. What data was used in 1980 including what aircraft; and what flight pattern?

9. For the 2001 AICUZ Update of noise contours, what data was used including what aircraft; and what flight pattern. flight exercise?

10. Please provide the data that supports the designation of noise levels under the proposed flight path to be no more than 65 ldn.