[CPEO-MEF] REUSE: Redeveloping Horsham (PA)

[Lenny Siegel <Lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

The BRAC Commission’s Impact on Horsham

Opinion by ERIC TUWALSKI
Broad + Liberty
August 28, 2025

When I joined the Naval Reserve after my time serving active duty in the United States Navy, I chose my reserve duty station at Joint Reserve Base Naval Air Station Willow Grove. 

The decision was an obvious one for myself considering I was only about eighteen miles from the base and not too far from my former employer at the time. While serving in the Naval Reserve, I was still able to receive military training experience once a month and for two weeks active duty wearing the uniform and playing a supporting role for the active-duty fleet. Individuals I served with in the operational support units came from various backgrounds and enjoyed the flexibility of serving our nation, as well as receiving additional income supporting family livelihood. I was aware of the base closure before I performed my reserve duty on the base at the end of March 2011. I soon became familiar with the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, known as the acronym BRAC. 

…

The Horsham Land Redevelopment Authority (HLRA) certainly has their work cut out for them based on the intent of the land becoming prime real estate for a mixed-use development and not used for industrial purposes. Robby Chakler recently wrote in Horsham Now about high levels of harmful chemicals from the firefighting agent aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) that was used as a firefighting agent on the former site for downed aircraft and other installations that caught fire over the seven decades the base was operational. The chemicals, according to the article, cause groundwater contamination. High levels are toxic and lower levels have been found in blood tests on residents who came in contact through drinking water. 

…

For the entire column, see
https://broadandliberty.com/2025/08/28/the-brac-commissions-impact-on-horsham/

—

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
A project of the Pacific Studies Center
LSiegel@cpeo.org
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650-961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org
Author: DISTURBING THE WAR: The Inside Story of the Movement to Get Stanford University out of Southeast Asia - 1965–1975 (See http://a3mreunion.org)




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