Former Newark Air Force Base (BRAC 1993)

Summary
Location: Heath, Ohio
Total Acreage: 70 Acres
Closed: September 1996

History
Newark AFB was constructed in the early 1950s to house and support aluminum presses in the manufacture of aircraft wings, but this program was curtailed in 1953 and it was never used for that purpose. From 1953 to 1959, Newark AFB was used to store industrial equipment and was designated Air Force Industrial Plant Number 48. In 1959, it became the Heath Maintenance Annex of Dayton Depot.

The Dayton Air Force Depot personnel associated with the Air Force calibration program began their moves to the Heath Maintenance Annex in April 1962, and by June, most had been relocated to Heath, Ohio. In June, the name was also changed to the 2802nd Inertial Guidance and Calibration Group under HQ Air Force Logistics Command. By July 1962, the Metrology function was fully staffed. By the end of 1962, the primary calibration labs and the Air Force Measurement Standards Laboratories were completed. In November 1962, the facility was named Newark Air Force Station. Newark Air Force Station was renamed Newark Air Force Base in June 1987.

Environmental Activities
In 2005, a performance based contract was awarded to manage the one groundwater monitoring site and the nine land use control sites at Newark. The first Five-Year Review report was completed in October 2005. A performance-based remediation contract was awarded in August 2011. The groundwater monitoring sites was closed in 2015 and seven of the land use control sites have been closed.

Property Transfer
The majority of the former Newark AFB consists of improved grounds on which the main building (Building 4) and adjacent facilities are located.  Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation border the base to the south and east, railroad right of-way and a housing development border it on the west. Land use immediately around the base includes industrial development to the northwest and south, farming to the west, and a residential district to the west and the northeast, which includes Licking County Airport.