Military

Campbell Army Airfield (CAAF)

Fort Campbell is home to the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). No other military force in the world incorporates assault helicopters so directly into its mission. Operations at Fort Campbell are concentrated in four major areas; the Main Cantonment area, Campbell Army Airfield, Old Clarksville Base, and the Sabre Army Heliport.

Campbell Army Airfield is the Army's largest, spanning 2,500 acres and serving as a secondary landing site for the National Aeronautics & Space Administration and the space shuttle. Campbell Army Airfield is the home of two U.S. Air Force tenant units working diligently to keep aircraft of the division flying safely. They are 19th Air Support Operation Squadron and Operating Location U 621 Mobility Operations Group. The Campbell I Military Operations Area (MOA) is located next to the main runway at Fort Campbell. This airspace starts at 500 feet above ground level and extends to 10,000 feet above sea level.

Campbell Army Airfield is one of several way points designated by NASA as a stopover location when moving Space Shuttle orbiters between the West and East coasts. The Shuttle Atlantis and its 747 carrier aircraft were on public display at Fort Campbell on 26 September 1998. The Shuttle stopped at Campbell Army Airfield en route from Palmdale, CA, to the Kennedy Space Center, FL, after undergoing months of refurbishment. The planned overnight stop at Campbell Army Airfield has been extended through the weekend because of threatening weather in Florida.

Data Monitor Systems, Inc. (DMS) manages and operates the Campbell Army Airfield functions of transient services, aviation fuel storage, aviation fuel distribution, deliver ground fuel to using units on Fort Campbell and equipment/systems maintenance. Responsibilities include servicing approximately 4,300 transient aircraft annually for over 30 types of military aircraft. The 4,500,000 gallons of JP8 fuel provided for transient aircraft is approximately 40 percent of the 11,000,000 gallons handled annually on this installation.

Contractors cut trees and brush from Campbell Army Airfield perimeter fence and interior fence. This work consists of clearing an area 10-ft on each side offence, all brush, including vines and trees growing in fence fabric and within 10 ft of fence. There are approximately eight (8) acres of light to medium density and four (4) acres of medium to heavy density. The contractor trims branches of overhanging trees back to 10 ft. from fence, approximately two 92) acres, and removes small trees and stumps as required within 10-ft. offence, approximately 20-30 small trees and saplings. Brush is mowed 10 ft. on each side of fence, over approximately 12 acres. The period of performance is 120 calendar days. The estimated range for this project is $25,000 to $100,000.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Nashville District, conducted a site investigation using the Site Characteri-zation and Analysis Penetrometer Systems (SCAPS) at Ft. Campbell Army Air Field, located in Kentucky. The investigation was conducted to determine the extent of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) contaminants from a leaking aboveground storage tank. Forty SCAPS were installed in areas of suspected contaminants at downgradient locations. However, no BTEX was detected. SCAPS screening results were verified with more rigorous analytical methods and confirmed the absence of BTEX at the site. Total elapsed field time was 3 days and total cost was $40,000, resulting in a savings of more than $200,000 over the estimated $250,000 it would have cost to obtain the same level of confidence using only traditional laboratory data. There was no savings in time to conduct this effort.

Fort Campbell is situated over karst terrain, which makes it very difficult to determine the condition, location and flow direction of groundwater beneath the installation. Numerous sinkholes, sinking streams and shallow springs are located throughout Campbell Army Airfield (CAAF), the cantonment area and Old Clarksville Base, where the vast majority of solid waste management units (SWMUs) are located.

Fuel spills and pipeline leaks adjacent to runways and ramps of the Campbell Army Airfield (CAAF) at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, have been occurring since 1942. The primary contaminant is jet fuel-4 (JP-4), which leaked into soils overlying a karst terrain and contaminated local groundwater supplies. Of primary concern is whether leakage of the JP-4 contaminant is directly connected with the underlying karst system, or whether the JP-4 becomes temporarily trapped within the overburden sediments and/or the upper reaches of the bedrock and is released sporadically over time. Unless environmental problems associated with contamination at CAAF can be resolved, state environmental agencies have threatened closure.