BOMBING TARGET 11 -- Marine Corps officials have awarded Tesoro Corporation a contract in the amount of $78,716.00 for construction and placement of 10 navigational pilings containing warning signage along the perimeter of a prohibited area known as Piney Island located within the waters of the Neuse River and Pamlico Sound in Carteret County. The contract completion date is April 11, 2010.

This action does not modify or expand the configuration of the existing security areas or the scope of military training. The existing prohibited and restricted areas have been codified since 1961 in the Code of Federal
Regulations and appear on current navigational charts.

In early December, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point received final approval from the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources Division of Coastal
Management for placement of the navigational pilings.

The process to install navigational markers was initiated in May 2009 in an effort to better inform and make visible to mariners, recreational and commercial fishermen the location of the existing prohibited and restricted areas surrounding BT-11 and to prevent inadvertent entry to these danger zones.

The existing "prohibited" area consists of a 1.8 statute mile radius area centered on a target in Rattan Bay and the water and land within this area has been closed at all times to the public.

One of the "restricted" areas is at Newstump Point and the other is along the west coast of Piney Island between Marsh Point and North Bay. Each of the restricted areas has a radius around a defined point of 0.5 statute miles and is open to public navigation at night. No public access within these restricted areas is allowed during daylight hours.