Navy renews plan to demolish old ammunition-loading pier

NORFOLK - The Navy is moving forward with plans to demolish an old ammunition-loading pier in the middle of Hampton Roads that a Middlesex County man wanted to turn into a massive oyster reef.

The concrete structure has been out of use for about a decade, and was slated to be demolished
earlier this summer when Bob Jensen proposed keeping the structure for its oyster reef potential.

A Portsmouth firm, Construction and Cabling Specialists, was awarded the $1.8 million contract, said Terri Davis, public affairs officer for Naval Station Norfolk, which oversees the facility.


The Navy studied the oyster reef idea and tentatively supported it, but the Virginia Marine Resources Commission said liability issues prevented them from transferring ownership to Jensen.

Jensen said he will file a "cease and desist" letter, on behalf of the 1 million oysters already living on the concrete pilings of the pier, to try to stop the demolition.

But it appears that with the concerns of the VMRC and the Navy facing the end of the federal fiscal year at the end of September -- and a potential loss of the demolition funds -- the Navy is moving forward.

VMRC Commissioner Steven G. Bowman suggested in a letter to Jensen that the oyster-covered pilings could be placed at existing reef sites in the Chesapeake Bay. Davis said that would be up to VMRC, the contractor and Jensen.