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The Dare County Department of Health and Human Services, after consultation with Cape Hatteras National Seashore and the U.S. Public Health Service, lifted the precautionary public health advisory for CHNS’s Buxton Beach Access, also known as the Buxton Formerly Used Defense Site, on Thursday, June 12, 2025.

As a result, the national seashore re-opened the approximately three-tenths-of-a-mile section of beach, located just south of the southernmost house at the south end of Old Lighthouse Road to the southernmost jetty in Buxton. This section of beach had been closed since Sept. 1, 2023, due to health and safety concerns related to petroleum contamination and potentially hazardous remnant military infrastructure.

The parking lot at Buxton Beach Access remains temporarily closed to support the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers upcoming work to restore the dunes and conduct continued soil sampling. Until the Corps’ work is completed, a beach walkover is available at the entrance to Buxton Beach Access for those who own or rent houses accessed from Old Lighthouse Road. No parking is available on Old Lighthouse Road.

Parking is available at the Old Lighthouse location. The reopened area is a short beach walk away.

The decision to lift the precautionary public health advisory and re-open the three-tenths-of-a-mile closure area adjacent to the Buxton defense site was based on multiple factors which included:

The decision to lift the precautionary public health advisory and re-open the three-tenths-of-a-mile closed area was based on multiple factors which included:

• The Army Corps of Engineers performed an extensive petroleum removal project which included removal of most of the remnant military infrastructure from the area. Since the cleanup, which began in September 2024, there have not been any reported petroleum sheens or odors, nor have there been any complaints of symptoms associated with petroleum exposure.
• Dare County Department of Health and Human Services and the Cape Hatteras National Seashore have conducted separate analyses in which two different laboratories were used. Results indicated no levels of petroleum-contaminated soil that would create any public health concerns.
• The U.S. Coast Guard conducted a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) investigation at Buxton Beach Access which sought to determine actionable remediation levels associated with volatile organic compounds, semi-volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, and chlorinated solvents. The CERCLA investigation, released by the U.S. Coast Guard on Oct. 4, 2024, concluded that there are no actionable levels of these contaminants resulting from the past Coast Guard use of the site.

During the cleanup efforts, the Army Corps reported the removal of the following items from Buxton Beach: 4,599 cubic yards of petroleum-impacted soil, 99,526 gallons of petroleum-impacted water, 278,000 pounds of concrete, 1,153 feet of pipe, and 1,088 feet of metal cable and wire.

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