Ninigret Restoration Advisory Board Report
When: Tuesday, June 23 from 5 pm to 6:30 pm
Where: Kimball Pavilion inside Ninigret Park, 5 Park Lane, Charlestown
What: First public meeting of the Ninigret Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) for the Charlestown Naval Auxiliary Landing Field formerly used defense site (Ninigret Park and the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge)
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) New England District invites everyone to the first public meeting of the Ninigret Restoration Advisory Board (RAB).
USACE is actively investigating the former Charlestown Naval Auxiliary Landing Field (CNALF) under the Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP) as a Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS). CNALF was used for flight training from the 1940s to the 1970s, encompassing 631 acres, including Ninigret Park and the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge.
Federal regulations require installations that are undergoing environmental restoration to ask their communities every 24 months if interest exists in forming a RAB. The USACE New England District found sufficient and sustained support for forming a RAB to advise USACE on environmental restoration of the former CNALF in February 2025.
The Ninigret RAB comprises 12 members, which include community members, a representative of the municipality of Charlestown, a representative of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and a USACE representative. Since convening in November 2025, the RAB has been undergoing organizational efforts in accordance with federal regulations to adopt operating guidelines and to establish an organizational structure. As a community-based advisory board, the Ninigret RAB will meet regularly with USACE to review progress and provide input on environmental restoration at the former CNALF.
This meeting will provide an opportunity for members of the Charlestown community to meet RAB members, hear from the USACE team, ask questions, and explore opportunities for participating in the RAB.
The Ninigret RAB is a community-based board that will meet regularly with USACE to review progress and provide input about environmental restoration at the former CNALF. The RAB acts as a liaison between the restoration team and the community.
From the 1940s to the early 1970s, the Navy used CNALF for training pilots and aviation crews. In 1982, the property was transferred to the Town of Charlestown for recreational use as Ninigret Park and to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to manage the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge. USACE is conducting a Remedial Investigation under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) to understand the nature and extent of potential chemical and munitions-related concerns stemming from former Navy operations.
Agenda for June 23, information about RAB members, and history of the Charlestown Naval Auxiliary Landing Field, which is now Ninigret Park and Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge, is available at this link.
For additional information about this project, visit the project webpage at https://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/Projects-Topics/Former-Charlestown-Naval-Auxiliary-Landing-Field/.
June 4, 2026 @ 5:19 pm
As an elderly life time resident of Charlestown and someone who remembers when Ninigret Parki was an active Naval Air Base I have testified on numerous occasions before visiting members of Congress and the EPA about the underground pollution at Ninigret Park . Only to be told that I was misrepresenting the truth and I didn’t know what I was talking about. For your information I have the Newspaper reports from the early 1980’s to prove it. Now, I know all about the private wells that are being polluted and the finger pointing at underground pollution leaching into them from Ninigret Park. It is obviously a concern to the Army Corps of Engs. when you count the new number of test stand pipes that have been sunk around a selected area in the park. Remember that ole Country song: “Who’ll be the first to say I told you so?”
May 27, 2026 @ 4:44 pm
we have to be vigilant with what is going on in our town If you need volunteer s I would be glad to help