Environmental Assessment, Managing Flight Obstructions to Preserve Safety at Andrews Air Force Base

Abstract

The United States Air Force has identified a need to manage trees which adversely affect safe flight operations at Andrews Air Force Base (AFB) in Prince George s County, Maryland. Andrews AFB is home to the 89th Airlift Wing and provides worldwide airlift and logistical support for the President of the United States, the Vice President, cabinet members, and other high-ranking United States and foreign officials. Many of the trees requiring management are located on Suitland Parkway, which is managed by the National Park Service and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Other trees requiring management are located on Andrews AFB and on lands within an industrial park immediately north of Suitland Parkway and lands adjoining the southern base perimeter. The EA describes a no-action alternative (Alternative 1), a preferred alternative (Alternative 2) involving vegetation management to manage obstructions without reconfiguring the runways, and a third alternative (Alternative 3) involving reconfiguring the runways to reduce the severity of required vegetation management. The EA assesses potential impacts from each alternative to land use and infrastructure (land use, flight operations and safety, vehicular transportation, and utilities); the biological environment (trees and vegetation, terrestrial wildlife, threatened and endangered species, wetlands, streams and aquatic biota, and floodplains); the cultural environment (archaeological resources, historic resources, Cold War structures, and aesthetics); the physical environment (climate and air quality, surface water and groundwater, soils and geology and prime farmland, noise, and waste management); and socioeconomics (employment, housing, and environmental justice). The EA demonstrates that, with appropriate mitigation, none of the alternatives would result in significant environmental impacts.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2002
Accession Number
ADA609534

Entities

People

  • Amy Nelson
  • Chris Park
  • Cornelia Sarvey
  • Dale Cavin
  • John Annett
  • John D Martin
  • Kathy Landkrohn
  • Lee Robertson
  • Peyton Doub
  • Ralph Barr

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Birds
  • Environment
  • Environmental Protection
  • Environmental Restoration And Remediation
  • Fish
  • Habitats
  • Health Services
  • Medical Personnel
  • Transport Aircraft
  • Wildlife

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of Proposed Air Force Base Actions.
  • Wetland-Land-Environmental Management.