Cleanup of Yeager Airport Slope Failure on Hold

Work on clearing what remains of Yeager Airport’s collapsed safety overrun area will be on hold until protocols for collecting samples of materials from the slide for use as evidence in pending lawsuits are worked out in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Yeager Executive Director Terry Sayre says guidelines for conducting such forensic tests will be taken up during an April 13 status hearing. Until sampling procedures are agreed upon, no slide removal work can be done.

Finance Committee Chairman Trip Shumate says a recent audit showed the safety overrun collapse reduced the airport’s value by $18.27 million.

Also on hold is an $8 million taxiway rehabilitation project already approved and 90-percent funded by the Federal Aviation Administration, due to uncertainty about obtaining the $800,000 in matching funds needed to get the project under contract.