Environmental Justice for All? The Navy's Recent Failure to Protect North Carolina's Citizens

Abstract

This article illustrates the substantial failure of the United States Navy to account for environmental and human interests in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), thereby implicating serious environmental justice concerns. The article first highlights the Navy's blatant disregard for NEPA as it attempted to move an Outlying Landing Field (OLF) from a wealthy area in Virginia to a low-income, predominantly African-American community in eastern North Carolina. After focusing on both court opinions and internal Navy correspondence to demonstrate the failure of the Navy with regard to the OLF, the article concludes by warning North Carolinians of a pending project where the Navy is similarly attempting to circumvent NEPA in order to burden eastern North Carolina's residents and their natural environment.

Keywords: Environmental justice, National Environmental Policy Act, NEPA, environmental impact statement, environmental law, environmental litigation, Navy, adequate alternatives