MOFFETT FIELD REUSE

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>]

From: Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>

MOFFETT FIELD REUSE
(This is a long file.)
For about six years I have touted the Navy's collaborative approach to 
cleanup at Moffett Field, here in Mountain View and Sunnyvale, 
California as a model for working with the community, as well as 
regulators, in environmental restoration. To a large degree, the 
Federal Facilities Environmental Restoration Dialogue Committee modeled 
its recommendations for the formation of Site-Specific Advisory Boards 
(known as Restoration Advisory Boards at most Department of Defense 
installations) after Moffett.
However, the "conversion" of Moffett from a Naval Air Station, over the 
same period of time, has been anything but a model. Early on, local 
officials met secretly with government agencies and defense industry 
representatives. Base closure was a sham, as NASA's adjacent Ames 
Research Center took over operation of the airfield for its own use and 
the operations of the Navy Reserve and the Air National Guard.
A number of us protested, arguing that the new airfield would never be 
cost effective; it wasted valuable resources; and the level of activity 
required to pay for the airfield's federal operations would degrade - 
largely through aircraft noise - the local quality of life. However, we 
had no direct impact upon any land use decisions at Moffett. Still, we 
worked to ensure that cleanup would proceed as expeditiously and 
completely as possible so other uses would be feasible when the 
government got around to considering them.
This year, however, things began to change. Unable to attract more 
federal tenants to the airfield, NASA reported that it was losing $3.5 
million a year on Moffett Field operations. Furthermore, NASA 
headquarters proposed to moved Ames Research Center's fleet of research 
aircraft to Southern California. To make up a large fraction of its 
deficit, NASA proposed to allow commercial air cargo flights in and out 
of Moffett under a special provision of the Air Force's Civil Reserve 
Air Fleet program.
NASA lined up support from the same local government and industry 
interests that backed the sham closure. Local officials argued (without 
much basis, in my opinion) that without NASA-controlled air operations 
San Jose, the 800-pound gorilla in our county, would take over the 
airfield and bring in much more frequent, more objectionable air 
traffic. However, the NASA scheme had two major problems: 1) NASA, as a 
non-military agency, was not authorized by statute to take part in the 
Civil Reserve Air Fleet program; 2) The air cargo companies, such as 
Fedex, UPS, and DHL, were only interested in Moffett because the nearby 
San Jose International airport has a curfew preventing early morning 
flights. At least a small percentage of the flights would come over 
neighbors' homes before the dawn's early light.
A group of us formed the Alliance for New Moffett Field to call for an 
examination of other future use alternatives and to oppose the air 
cargo proposal. We attended city and NASA-sponsored meetings on the air 
cargo plan, and we distributed thousands of fliers and pre-printed 
postcards door-to-door. Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, we 
formed an Internet newsgroup that now has over 125 participants.
The Alliance and its supporters quickly built support among communities 
in the Moffett flight path. Living in one of the world's most educated 
and technologically most sophisticated areas, we started with an 
empowered base of people who expected to be heard, were willing and 
able to contribute funds to a fledgling organization, and had more 
expertise than the government officials trying to run a 
decide-announce-defend show. More than a few unaffiliated residents 
showed up at public meetings, having read NASA's entire Environmental 
Assessment and having written detailed, technical critiques.
Our Congressional representative, Democrat Anna Eshoo, has promised not 
to carry or support the legislation necessary to authorize air cargo at 
the NASA facility unless the local community supports it. So our 
organization asked the city councils of Sunnyvale and Mountain View to 
put an advisory measure on the ballot. (Both cities have had similar 
ballot measures twice in the past.) Though both city councils appeared 
to favor the NASA proposal, Mountain View voted 4-3 to put a measure on 
the November ballot. Sunnyvale voted 4-2 (would have been 4-3 without 
an absence) against a ballot measure at this time. We expect Mountain 
View voters to reject, by a large margin, commercial air operations at 
Moffett Field.
On the eve of the decision to put the measure on the Mountain View 
ballot - and after months of opposing any study of alternative uses - 
NASA proposed that the two cities set up a future use study committee 
as an alternative to the vote. Both cities accepted that proposal, but 
Mountain View found the vote could take place, too. The Alliance has 
simply asked that the committee include opponents of the air cargo plan 
and that it be empowered to study alternatives for Moffett other than 
airfield operations. Subsequently, NASA has "shelved" plans for 
commercial air cargo flights, pending the outcome of the committee's study.
Personally, I predict that NASA will abandon Moffett Field, and that no 
other federal agency will want to pay for its operations. The study 
committee will evolve into a full-fledged reuse authority. Since 
Moffett is located in the heart of Silicon Valley - with the 
non-wetlands portion of the property probably worth $1 million an acre 
- it won't be hard to find potential users and buyers. The difficulty 
will be weighing the desirability of numerous potential uses.
By the time Moffett Field is closed for real, the cleanup efforts - of 
both the federal (Navy and NASA) and private (electronics industry) 
PRPs will be far enough along that toxic contamination should have a 
minimal impact on future uses. Moffett, I expect, will become a model 
for not only involving the public in cleanup, but for actual cleanup 
and conversion of closing military bases.
Lenny Siegel
Mountain View resident