The former Charlestown Naval Auxiliary Landing Field (CNALF) was acquired between 1940 and 1942 by the U.S. Navy and encompasses approximately 630 acres in Charlestown, Rhode Island. CNALF was used as a pilot and flight crew training facility during World War II and later as a support facility to Quonset Point Naval Air Station. CNALF was closed in the early 1970s and transferred to the Town of Charlestown and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for beneficial reuse in 1981. The property that comprised CNALF is today used for conservation and recreation as Ninigret Park and Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge.
CNALF is actively being investigated under the Defense Environmental Restoration Program as Formerly Used Defense Site Project Number D01RI000809. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is tasked with performing a Remedial Investigation in accordance with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act to understand the nature and extent of chemicals of potential concern (COPCs) and munitions and explosives of concern (MEC) relating to former U.S. Navy operations.
The Remedial Investigation consists of the collection, testing, and evaluation of surface and subsurface soil samples, sediment samples, surface water samples, and groundwater samples collected from more than 100 monitoring points to evaluate three former landfills, a former burn pit, a former fire station, and water supply area. This Remedial Investigation work was developed in collaboration with the Town of Charlestown, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. The Remedial Investigation work plan (referred to as the Quality Assurance Project Plan) was finalized on March 24, 2023. The USACE is actively implementing this Remedial Investigation work plan, which is planned to continue into 2026. The results and conclusions from this investigation will be presented in a Remedial Investigation Report.