Wilkins Mooring and Launching Facility EIS Scoping Meeting
Red Mill Elementary School in Virginia Beach, Va., provided the venue Nov. 6, as more than 100 Sandbridge area community members voiced their concerns and opinions on the pending Environmental Impact Statement study for the proposed Wilkins’ Marina project. The scoping meeting, hosted by the Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, sought to listen to community members and capture their comments for use in the development of the EIS. After a lively and oftentimes passionate discussion during the meeting’s introductory session, led by Tom Walker, Norfolk District’s Regulatory chief, and Harold Jones, project consultant, community members were separated into four break-out sessions to focus on identifying, defining and capturing specific project issues. The break-out sessions were led by environmental scientists from the district’s Regulatory Branch and managed by Melissa Nash, the Corps’ Wilkins' Marina EIS project manager. Community members were also informed of the 45-day comment period allowing them to send their comments to the Corps via email or mail through Nov. 21, 2014, and the creation of a Corps Wilkins’ Marina EIS project web page to keep community members updated.