From World War 2 until the President Clinton administration fuels for the military in eastern N.C. came into the port of Morehead and was loaded onto rail cars at Radio Island. Early in that administration the fuels contract was awarded to Amerada-Hess on a delivered basis. They chose to bring these fuels in via pipeline through Selma, N.C... That is a 36 inch pipeline from Texas City Texas that was built in 1941-1942 time frame without regard for security and or environmental considerations.

The terminal at Selma operates at a rate of 110% of design capacity. Almost all of eastern North Carolina depends on it to supply our fuel. Agriculture, travel, tourism, marine activities, all commerce and most of all the military that we depend on so much for our economy would all be shut down if a disaster should occur for any reason at the terminal or anywhere along that pipeline. I am told that the transit time for product in the pipeline is 28 days.

The facility at Radio Island has been demolished and is no longer a consideration. The only backup to Selma is the port of Wilmington which has one of the finest P.O.L facilities on the east coast. In an emergency a tanker load could be purchased on the high seas and diverted into Wilmington normally within a three day period of time. The problem arises in that there is no efficient way to move it from the port facility to where it is needed.

There are not enough tanker transport trucks in North Carolina to move the fuels from Wilmington or the terminal in Greensboro to the destinations in the east. If you were able to arrange for enough trucks, you would see bumper to bumper 18 wheelers causing grid lock through Wilmington. Commerce and movement would stop there.

In the interest of national security, the economy of the east and for BRAC considerations action must be initiated to restore the missing track from Castle Hayne to Wallace. In the event of a disaster like mentioned above, rail cars could be moved into the port area in about the time required to divert a tanker into the port and rail could transport the fuel into a destination areas where it could be pumped into tanker trucks for local distribution. If the disaster was a break in the pipeline the rail cars could supply the terminal at Selma. The cars could be delivered to the Seymour Johnson AFB siding pipeline terminal for pumping onto the base to keep it in operation. The same possibility exists for deliveries to Cherry Point NAS in the event that they could not get a barge shipment.

Even a planned action to restore the missing link of track as a back up for fuel to Seymour Johnson AFB, should be recognized by the BRAC Commission as a move to correct a vulnerability or weakness. The cost of the restoration of this segment of track and service is extremely low in relation to the potential loss it may prevent. The loss of such a facility and its economic impact would be greater than the cost of all the railroad investment in the eastern part of this state.

If the Global Transpark is ever to be successful the same fuels issue will apply to that operation. Even under normal operation with no interruption in the flow through Selma that additional demand may take Selma beyond its capacity to supply the east without depending on the Wilmington facilities.

These considerations are above those reasons for restoration enumerated in the H.D.R Engineering Study funded by the Ports Authority and in April, 2004, forwarded to Ms. Shirley Williams in the N.C.D.O.T..