By It looks like Osan Air Base will face an uphill battle in it’s attempt to replace their old runway.
A group of South Koreans filed an administrative suit Thursday against the Korean defense minister, demanding the cancellation of approval for the construction of a second runway at the U.S. air base in Osan, south of Seoul.
In the suit filed with the Seoul Administrative Court, the plaintiffs — a group of 200 residents of Pyeongtaek who live near Osan Air Base — accused the Korean government of approving the U.S. air base’s runway expansion project without conducting an environmental impact assessment or consulting the local municipal authority or residents.
“It is obvious that the local residents will suffer from even worse noise pollution,” the plaintiffs said in the suit.
But the defense ministry said the new runway project won’t cause any damage to neighboring residents.
“The second air strip (at Osan) is to replace the present dilapidated one, so it will not increase flight operations or training time, which could have an impact on local residents,” a ministry spokesman said, noting the construction will continue as scheduled. [YONHAP News]
Do you think locals will be able to stop Osan from building a second runway?
8:52 am on May 1st, 2010 1
Not if it's built right next to the current one, is of the same length, etc.
9:12 am on May 1st, 2010 2
I don't know that a new runway would be truly a replacement. It would probably be a primary, but the old runway may be retained as a serviceable secondary.
Every couple of years, Osan does runway repairs and planes and missions have to be flown out of Suwon. Also, if a plane crash lands on the runway, it is unusable until the runway is cleaned up. Again, planes would have to be diverted. The odds of that happening during time of war are high.