The National Park Service closed a stretch of beach near the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse on Friday after storm erosion exposed old military infrastructure under the sand.
Visitors reported a strong smell of fuel Friday afternoon along the beach in Buxton, prompting rangers to close the beach from the Buxton jetties to the Buxton Beach Access, the National Park Service said in a news release. Rangers conducting post-storm assessments following former Tropical Storm Idalia found “potentially hazardous infrastructure from a former military site at the end of Old Lighthouse Road in Buxton,” the release said.
From 1956 to 1982, the Navy operated a base there that secretly spied on Soviet submarines through underwater listening devices. The buildings on site were demolished in 2005.
Visitors to Cape Hatteras National Seashore are asked to stay out of the closed section of beach until the area is further assessed and reopened for public use.
