Navy announces Information Exchanges on the Draft Environmental Assessment for the Bloodsworth Island Range

NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, MD— The Department of the Navy announces a series of public information exchanges and a 30-day public review period on the Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for Operations at the Bloodsworth Island Range (BIR). The Draft EA identifies and evaluates the potential environmental effects of conducting military operations at the BIR to accommodate research, development, test, and evaluation and training needs. The information exchanges will be held in an open-house type setting where participants will be able to speak directly with Navy personnel. Key issues to be addressed at the information exchanges include range safety, planned military operations, and environmental stewardship initiatives. In the past, operations at BIR have included the use of live explosive ordnance. However, the proposed future operations will only involve the use of inert or non-explosive ordnance. The Navy maintains a strong commitment to safety that extends to the proposed operations for BIR.

Each information exchange will be held from 3:30 pm-8:00 pm. The dates and locations are as follows:

Monday, March 14, 2005 Deal Island School, 23275 Lola Wheatley Rd. Deal Island, Md.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005 Holiday Inn Express, 2715 Ocean Gateway Cambridge, Md.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005 Lakes & Straits VFC, 2103 Farm Creek Rd. Wingate, Md.

Interested parties are encouraged to review and comment on the Draft EA. The comment period is March 1, 2005 – March 31, 2005. For public convenience, the Draft EA will be available for review after March 1, 2005 at the Wicomico Free Library, the Somerset County Library (including Ewell and Deal Island Branches), Corbin Memorial Library, and the Dorchester County Central Library.

All comments should be submitted to:

Mail:
Attn-Ms. Kelly Burdick
Naval Air Warfare Center Public Affairs
22268 Cedar Point Road Bldg 409, Room 204
Patuxent River, Md. 20670-1154
Phone: 301-757-6909
Facsimile: 301-342-7509
E-Mail: [email protected]