BUXTON, N.C. (WNCN) — Part of a beach at the Outer Banks is closing again because of ongoing problems from a former submarine monitoring site, officials said Saturday.
The closure is a shoreline adjacent to the Buxton Formerly Used Defense Site, due to petroleum odors and light oil sheens on the water, according to a Cape Hatteras National Seashore news release.
The three-tenths-of-a-mile closure is from the southern boundary of Buxton Village to the southernmost jetty at Old Lighthouse Beach.
The same area was closed from Sept. 1, 2023, until June 12 this year while crews worked in the area to improve the site.
“Erosion caused by strong surf over the past 24 hours caused the loss of substantial amounts of beach sand and exposed apparently contaminated soils that remain at the site,” the news release said.
A high surf advisory is in effect until late Sunday night for the Outer Banks with large breaking waves up to 8 feet, the National Weather Service in Morehead City said.
The nearly 50-acre site was used by the U.S. Navy as a submarine monitoring station until 1982.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers tried during the fall of 2024 and winter of 2025 to remove sand, soil and water contaminated with petroleum from the site, officials said.
