The Navy is at it again. They (through the Army Corps of Engineers) held a meeting last night in Forks with little advance notice and no real public outreach about plans (that were not put online but published in a huge hard copy document left at the Forks Library) to do work on the Forks airport.
The Navy is claiming that they are going to be working on cleaning up environmental damage from long neglected sites at the airport from WWII and post war use.
A person at the Forks Library described the documents that were delivered to them as “8 large notebooks” and said that the person who’d delivered them to the library said the reason they are not online is because “the files were corrupted.” She had looked Table of Contents and said that there was:
1. There’s a statement saying that the onsite hazardous materials being considered for cleanup were not at a level that required one. This would match with what the notice says is the “No Action Alternative.”
2. Naval Auxiliary Air Station Quillayute is being investigated for future suitability as land for infrastructure. Whose infrastructure was not immediately apparent, but as property that is officially classified as a Formerly Used Defense Site, or “FUD,” and with all the upcoming military activity out there, the Forks airport could be at risk of becoming a military jet or helicopter landing site in support of the survival training and Navy jet overflights. This could also mean storage of tremendous amounts of fuel onsite, and possibly ordnance.
Anyone who has been near the Outlying Landing Field Coupeville at Whidbey Island will know what a threat such a conversion would pose to public health, safety, the environment and the economy. Other small civilian airports classified as FUDs (California, North Carolina, etc) have been appropriated as military runways, and the surrounding communities have had negative consequences.
Apparently the Army Corp of Engineers opened comment on this on April 22nd and the deadline for comments is Friday May 27th. Tomorrow.
The direct line for the Point of Contact named in the notice is Mr. Mirek Towster: 816-389-3886.
Mirek.S.Towster@usace.army.mil.
This is the contact web page: http://www.nwk.usace.army.mil/Contact.aspx
Will be reporting back on the meeting and other future issues on this in the days ahead.
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound |
http://tinyurl.com/QuillayuteFUDS
Forks Airport sits on Quillayute Prairie, possibly the most historic, most valuable and one of the largest camas prairies awaiting possible reclamation in western Washington. Nearly every county has a local airport occupying what was formerly camas prairie, sacred and essential to the tribes prior to colonization.
Is the Quillayute Nation informed of the Navy plan? They should be in the conversation, as this land was taken from them 160 years ago and remains their best chance at reclaiming an essential part of their heritage.
The link goes to the Kansas City District of the US Army Corps of Engineers. Is that correct? Thank you. Deb Wiese
Yes. The Corps is in charge of the cleanup for the Navy.
Yes, but why Kansas? We have a Seattle District of the COE: http://www.nws.usace.army.mil/
I found one related hint: Page 13 of the August 20, 2015 Forks Forum paper has a COE notice about “investigation” concerning “contamination” at the Quillayute air station. Here: https://issuu.com/pnwmarketplace/docs/i20150819082324871
Says documents are available Forks Branch of North Olympic Library.
I’d put in a comment email/letter, but I have very little to go on…