Final Environmental Assessment: Decommissioning of the Minuteman Village Mobile Home Park and Restoration of the Site, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts

Abstract : Hanscom AFB proposes to decommission the Minuteman Village Mobile Home Park (MVMHP) and restore the site to conditions similar to those prior to the construction of the MVMHP in 1961. The U.S. Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) has directed all Air Force Bases under its command, including Hanscom AFB, to vacate all mobile home parks by 1 July 2009, in the Mobile Home Park Policy issued on 8 August 2004. A majority of the property (approximately 38 of the 44 acres) is leased to the Air Force by the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport). The Air Force must fulfill the requirements set forth in the lease agreement in order to terminate the lease agreement for that parcel of land. The proposed action includes removing the aboveground and surface features associated with the MVMHP. Once the MVMHP is completely vacated, the proposed action includes disconnecting and capping all utilities. Lastly, the proposed action would backfill, grade, loam and seed all the sites. The Environmental Assessment (EA) prepared for the proposed action addresses the site specific impacts of decommissioning the MVMHP and restoring the site to conditions similar to those prior to the construction of the MVMHP. The EA evaluates the consequences of the proposed action on both the natural and man-made environments. The proposed action would result in the property no longer functioning as a mobile home park, and the restoration of the site would result in the creation of open space/vacant land in an area that has been residential for nearly 50 years. The proposed action will be in accordance with the AFMC Mobile Home Park Policy and would fulfill the requirements set forth by Massport in the lease agreement.