south weymouth naval air station

1134 MAIN STREET

The South Weymouth Naval Air Station (SOWEY NAS), approximately 1,442 acres in size, is located in the towns of Weymouth, Abington, and Rockland. The facility was used continuously until it closed on September 30, 1997 under the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 (BRAC), Public Law 101-510; as part of the BRAC Commissions 1995 Base Closure List (BRAC IV). The land surrounding the site is suburban, with a mixture of residential, industrial, and commercial uses. After acquiring the site in 1941, the U.S. Navy used it as a Lighter than Air facility for dirigible aircraft used to patrol the North Atlantic during World War II. The facility was closed at the end of the war, then reopened in 1953 as a Naval Air Station for aviation training. The mission of SOWEY NAS was to train all assigned units for their mobilization assignment and to provide administrative coordination and logistic support to the Marine Air Reserve Training Detachment. Activities performed at the site included aircraft maintenance, refueling, personnel training and housing, and administrative support services. The wastes generated by the facility were reportedly disposed in three on-site landfills. The West Gate landfill operated from 1969 to 1972, and the Rubble Disposal area and the Small Landfill operated from 1972 until the mid-1980s. Flammable liquid wastes reportedly were burned at the fire training area, and small amounts of waste battery acid, possibly containing lead, may have been disposed in the tile leachfield. In addition, the U.S. Coast Guard operates a buoy maintenance depot on the property through an agreement with the Navy. At the Coast Guard's buoy depot, lead-based paint from buoys was reportedly sandblasted from 1972 until 1986. Eighteen municipal drinking water wells, located within four miles of source areas at SOWEY NAS, provide drinking water to approximately 74,000 people. In addition, approximately eighty five private drinking water wells located within four miles of SOWEY NAS draw from the same aquifer. Large wetlands occur throughout the surrounding towns, including the Weymouth Great Pond to the west, a source of municipal water for much of the area.

• Johnstown City Landfill (Town Of Johnstown, NY)
• Revere Chemical Co. (Nockamixon Township, PA)
• Reasor Chemical Company (Castle Hayne, NC)
• Tri-cities Barrel Co., Inc. (Port Crane, NY)
• Curcio Scrap Metal, Inc. (Saddle Brook Twp, NJ)

• Tomah Armory (Tomah, WI)
• Old Mill (Rock Creek, OH)
• Mica Landfill (Mica, WA)
• March Air Force Base (Riverside, CA)