Posted on 12/12/2013 8:34:21 AM PST by Rebelbase
Hatteras Island is arguably one of the most beautiful locations in the country. It is also of historical, cultural, and economic importance to the State of North Carolina. However, over the past 20 years this island has been held hostage by the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) through their continued lawsuits over the construction of a replacement to the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge which spans the Oregon Inlet.
This bridge is the only link that residents and visitors have to safely and efficiently travel to and from Hatteras Island. The Bonner Bridge has been intermittently closed over the past few years due to structural issues that made it unsafe for travel. While a trip driving over the bridge takes only a few minutes, the closures result in a minimum 3 hour ferry ride as the only other alternative for residents and visitors to access Hatteras Island. This is not only inconvenient, but also economically devastating to local businesses and extremely dangerous for those in need of medical treatment.
The SELC has repeatedly blocked efforts to start construction by suing the State of NC on an array of charges. The courts have repeatedly denied the SELC charges, most recently in September 2013 when Federal Judge Louise Flanagan issued a 42 page ruling that thoroughly dismissed all of the SELC's arguments. The SELC completely ignored the ruling and appealed the decision.
The replacement bridge has been studied for over 20 years, the old bridge is literally falling down. It is time to stop the lawsuits and let construction begin before anymore economic harm is done, or worse, any physical harm comes to someone traveling over the current dilapidated bridge.
The SELC lawsuits are threatening to effectively shut down the ability of millions of visitors per year to enjoy the beautiful beaches, scenery, and hospitality of Hatteras Island. The residents who live here and the visitors who vacation here love nature and recognize the need to protect the environment, but view the ongoing SELC lawsuit against the Bonner Bridge as excessive. The SELC has the money to continue their fight for over 20 years, we need to show them that the vast majority of the public do not support their argument.
By signing this petition you are telling the SELC to drop their lawsuit over the Bonner Bridge project so that a safe, efficient roadway can be maintained to America's 1st National Seashore.
Good to see them getting a taste of their own medicine in the media and enjoying seeing this one from Change.org which typically is used as a leftist publicity organ.
It's even better to see an organized assault on the environmentalists by a large and growing grassroots movement.
Open up the article link and read the petition comments; the SELC is incurring rath from all points on the cultural compass.
The SELC should be declared a vexatious litigant.
Sarah Plain got sued 19 times by the same guy and won all the suits. It is not about law violations it is abuse of the system.
Back in the 50s my family used to vacation there. There was no bridge then. There was a converted LCT ferry that dropped you off onto a road made out of those metal mats used to make quick airfields during WW2. It was single lane with passing turnouts every couple hundred yards or so for the first few miles. Needless to say Hatteras was pristine and mostly undeveloped then.
Here is Southern Maryland we have a bridge over the Patuxent River between St. Mary’s and Calvert Counties.
It has become an economic necessity for both Counties.
When the Bridge was built it was only a couple of months before they had to brace it up to keep it from falling down.
Now it is several years old and is dangerous. The Counties know it and the State knows it , but O’Malley will do nothing. One State senator I talked to says he p[rays every day when he wakes up that it hasn’t fallen.
There’s a similar small ferry that runs across the upper Core Sound from Atlantic, NC to Portsmouth Island (the island south of Ocracoke).
It’s about a 40 minute ride and is wet and wild during choppy, windy conditions.
The Bonner Bridge is now closed until further notice because inspectors have determined that it can’t be trusted to support it’s own weight. Folks who live on the island but work off island are being subjected to horrible commuting times. The SELC should be sued out of existence.
It seems the bridge, or LACK thereof, could really be crucial in an emergency event. Whether the health and life of an individual or the need for instant emergency evacuation in the face of an approaching hurricane, the bridge is the life line.
Of course, the potential threat to HUMAN life is of secondary (thirdly?) concern for the “environment nazis”.
Build the damn bridge.
For reference (with pictures, map). . .
Confusion, chaos, and outrage reign as DOT suddenly decides to close Bonner Bridge (NC OBX)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3098050/posts
The whole purpose of SELC is to shut down the whole Hatteras Island.
There are several 4th+ generation families that live on Hatteras.
But to me it was like being on a ship. I grew up in Nebraska, so that didn't set well with me.
One old guy I was talking to on the pier in Nag’s Head said that he couldn't deal with living in the Great Plains. To open. This was a guy who was going deep sea fishing and lived half his life out of a fishing boat.
The Great Plains are a land ocean.
LOL! To some.
That old fisherman and I had a great conversation. He loved the open water, it made me uneasy. I love the plains (never thought of it as an ocean, but I can see it now), it made him feel like he was out in the middle of nowhere, and would never be found.
The more I think about it, the more odd it seems. I don’t like the open water for the same reason he didn’t like the plains.
I lived in NC in the 50’s. Hatteras was a favorite vacation spot. I rode the ferry you talk of before the bridge was ever built and I remember the metal mats. You forgot to mention, the Hatteras Lighthouse had to be moved about 100 yds west, lest it collapse into the Atlantic. A huge job. The barrier islands are always shifting, they are essentially shifting sand dunes.
Was not far from the Wright Bothers Memorial tower in Kitty Hawk. Caught a lot of flounder, a few bluefish, be careful of bluefish, they have teeth.
Still mostly Federal Park.I would not considerit over developed. OC Maryland is over developed.
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