Marine Corps holding informational meeting on bombing range

The Marine Corps will hold a public informational meeting Tuesday night on proposed action to expand the water-restricted area around the Piney Island bombing range when live-fire training is under way.

The Marine Corps wants to restrict boating in a wider area of the Pamlico Sound so it can expand the area of Piney Island Bombing Target 11 (BT-11). Marine Corps officials will share information and field questions from 4 to 7 p.m. at Pamlico High School cafeteria.

A similar meeting was held in at Smyrna Elementary School in Carteret County on Monday night.

The proposed action would expand the off-limits area only when live fire exercises are under way. That could be from 4 to 11 p.m. up to one day a week from February through November at times scheduled and made public two weeks in advance.

"We understand this may impact commercial and recreational fishing in this area during these periods and want your involvement in this process," the Marine Corps said in a statement.

The Corps decided in early 2007 that current safety restrictions at BT-11 are insufficient for training with proposed weapons and that new restrictions will be designed with public safety as a first priority.

In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, the Corps is now conducting an environmental assessment and determining a preferred alternative from a number of possible courses of action.

BT-11 is in northeastern Carteret County, with Cedar Island and the waters of Pamlico Sound to its east and the Neuse River and the border of Pamlico County to the west. It has been used along with other nearby water areas for similar training since the early 1940s.