Dallas Sues U.S. Navy Over Hensley Field Cleanup

The city of Dallas is again taking legal action against the U.S. Navy to make way for a large-scale redevelopment project.

Dallas sued the Navy this month after it failed to clean up a former Naval airfield by its 2017 deadline, delaying Dallas’ plan to redevelop the 738-acre Hensley Field that borders Mountain Creek Lake, the Dallas Morning News reported.

The Navy allegedly breached a 2002 legal settlement, stating that the military branch must clear the site — which contains harmful, cancer-causing contaminants — by 2017. The city has been wanting to transform the property into a mixed-use complex with 12,000 residences for years. As the cleanup drags on with no end in sight and the contamination persists, the property’s market value continues to decline.

“The United States has failed to keep multiple binding promises to remediate the significant environmental contamination caused by its decades-long use of the Hensley Field site,” the city said in an Aug. 2 complaint filed with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

The Navy hasn’t yet responded to the lawsuit. Cleanup costs were estimated at $92 million last December, the outlet said.

This is the second time the city has sued the Navy. In a 2002 lawsuit, prompted by hazardous conditions, the Navy agreed to pay the city more than $18 million in damages.

Hensley Field’s history traces back to the late 1920s, when Dallas purchased the land and subsequently leased it to the Army for pilot training. The site transitioned to naval control in 1949 and served as an air station until 1999.

While efforts to remediate soil contamination have received approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, groundwater contamination remains unresolved. The Dallas City Council last year approved a 20-year plan to transform Hensley Field into a modern community with thousands of homes, jobs, parks and recreational amenities.

City manager T.C. Broadnax is optimistic for a resolution.

“We appreciate all of the U.S. Navy’s efforts to remediate the site for the past 20 years,” Broadnax told the outlet. “We are confident that we can reach an agreement on the final phase of the project that ensures Hensley Field can be safely developed.”

—Quinn Donoghue