Castle Airport

Infobox Airport
name = Castle Airport

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image-width = 250
caption = USGS aerial photo as of 15 August 1998

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image2-width = 150
IATA = MER
ICAO = KMER
FAA = MER
type = Public
owner = Merced County Department of Commerce, Aviation, and Economic Development
operator =
city-served = Merced, California
location =
elevation-f = 189
elevation-m = 58
coordinates = coord|37|22|50|N|120|34|05|W|region:US_type:airport
website =
r1-number = 13/31
r1-length-f = 11,802
r1-length-m = 3,597
r1-surface = Asphalt/Concrete
stat-year = 2006
stat1-header = Aircraft operations
stat1-data = 211,300
stat2-header = Based aircraft
stat2-data = 76
footnotes = Source: Federal Aviation AdministrationFAA-airport|ID=MER|use=PU|own=PU|site=01886.3*A, effective 2008-04-10.]

Castle Airport airport codes|MER|KMER|MER is a public use airport located seven nautical miles (13 km) northwest of the central business district of Merced, a city in Merced County, California, United States. It is operated by the Merced County Department of Commerce, Aviation, and Economic Development.

The airport is located at the former Castle Air Force Base which closed in 1995. This land is owned jointly by the city of Merced, city of Atwater and the county of Merced. Until 2007 this land was administered by the JPA or Joint Powers Administration.

It has served two large flight schools, American School of Aviation (ASA) and Sierra Academy of Aeronautics both of which specialize in training foreign pilots, from India and China respectively. Activity related to these two schools makes up the majority of the air traffic at Castle. In early 2007, the control tower was reopened to handle increased training traffic.

In June 2008, American School of Aviation (ASA) was grounded by Merced County officials after it was discovered that the school lacked aircraft and hull insurance, which is required under state code. This is the second time the county has grounded the school, which is also being sued by Gemini Flight Support for $56,000 in unpaid gasoline bills. [cite news
url=http://www.mercedsunstar.com/106/story/298209.html
title=Insurance issue forces closure of flight school at Castle
publisher=Merced Sun-Star
date=2008-06-09] During the closure, the school failed to pay its water bill, resulting in the eviction of 100 students from dormitories at Castle Commerce Center. ASA's managers now say the school will likely be sold or relocated. [cite web
url=http://www.mercedsunstar.com/106/story/326777.html
title=Castle flight students evicted over school's overdue bill
publisher=Merced Sun-Star
date=2008-06-30]

Castle Air Museum is convert|500|yd|m|-2 away, displaying 50 restored World War II, Korean War, and Cold War era aircraft. Among the exhibit highlights are a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, one of only 19 surviving, a Boeing B-52D Stratofortress, and the massive Convair B-36, one of only four surviving.

Facilities and aircraft

Castle Airport covers an area of 1,580 acres (639 ha) which contains one runway (13/31) with an 11,802 x 150 ft (3,597 x 46 m) asphalt and concrete pavement. For the 12-month period ending June 30, 2006, the airport had 211,300 aircraft operations, an average of 578 per day: 99.6% general aviation and 0.4% military. At that time there were 76 aircraft based at this airport: 84% single-engine, 9% multi-engine and 7% jet.

Pollution

Since the mid-1940s, aircraft maintenance, fuel management, and fire training activities on the base have generated wastes that consist primarily of waste fuels, oils, solvents, and cleaners. Base activities also have generated lesser amounts of paints and plating wastes.

The EPA currently has this base listed on their database due to the bulk wastes such as solvents, oils, fuels, and sludges which were disposed in pits at landfills around the base until 1977. Fuel and waste oils were incinerated by the Air Force during fire training exercises. The Air Force ceased disposal of hazardous waste on site in 1977, and the base was officially closed in 1995. During the following cleanup efforts, all hazardous and toxic materials which the Air Force was unwilling or unable to transport offsite were sealed into four onsite landfills.

EPA investigations have been completed at multiple areas of contamination including landfills, discharge areas, chemical disposal areas, fire training areas, fuel spill areas, and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) spill areas. Through the fiscal year 2006, $164.27 million was spent on cleanup activities at Castle. The USAF expects to spend an additional $70.98 million through fiscal year 2044. Approximately 6000 people obtain their drinking water from both municipal and private wells located near the site. The principal pollutant at the base, TCE Trichloroethylene, was found in a plume. Merced Irrigation purified the water at the edge of the plume and released the purified water outside the plume. Working their way inward, they managed to clean the contaminated water. The methods used to purify the groundwater included passing the water through carbon filters and then aeriating it. The pollutant remaining after purification was packaged in a barrel and removed from the site. In 1991, a Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Cleanup Team (BCT) was created to review and offer comments/recommendations on the progress of the cleanup effort at Castle. BCT membership included representatives from the Air Force, federal and state regulatory agencies, and appointed representatives from the governing bodies of surrounding communities. The Castle RAB or Restoration Advisory Board, which was established in 1994 on behalf of the former Castle Air Force Base, was responsible for reviewing Federal cleanup methods and efforts, and was officially adjourned on January 16, 2007.

ee also

*Castle Air Museum
*United States Penitentiary, Atwater
*Riverside Motorsports Park is a proposed racing facility close to the airport.
* California World War II Army Airfields

References

* Castle Air Force Base: Department of the Air Force, Administrative Record File #2925
* Compass Maps: Merced, Atwater, Merced County
* [http://www.atwater.org/doc_files/Annexations%20(Approved%203-8-05).pdf City of Atwater -- Approved Annexations]
* [http://www.epa.gov/ US Environmental Protection Agency]
* [http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/rods/fulltext/r0902070.pdf EPA Superfund Record of Decision, September 9, 2002]

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.castleairport.merced.ca.us/ Castle Airport Aviation and Development Center]
* [http://www.caed.merced.ca.us/ Merced County Department of Commerce, Aviation, and Economic Development]
* [http://www.elite.net/castle-air/ Castle Air Museum]
*