VAFB-2021-25: Archaeological Investigations Supporting Section 106 Compliance for the Army Extended Range Cannon Artillery II Project

Summary

This document is a Section 106 Archaeological Investigation Report Supporting Compliance for the Army Extended Range Cannon Artillery Ii (ERCA) Artillery II Project. The ERCA II Project proposes to fire 77 test launches from the existing decommissioned Launch Facility 05 (LF-05), a former Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missile test launch silo. The Project would also involve storage of explosives at Launch Facility 25 (LF-25) and Building 1824, also on Vandenberg SFB. Based on information provided by the U.S. Army and Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) cultural resources personnel, Applied EarthWorks defined multiple Areas of Direct Impact (ADIs). Two overlapping ADIs were identified at LF-05: the Facility ADI and the Debris Field ADI. The LF-05 facility and pad, approximately 15–20-meter-wide firebreak corridor, and vegetation maintenance area between the facility and the firebreak comprise the Facility ADI. The area within which launch debris could fall is the Debris Field ADI. The Archaeological Study Area (ASA) was defined as the two ADIs plus a 100-meter buffer and the entirety of any cultural resource intersected by the ADI. Background research, surface survey, and subsurface survey revealed that four archaeological sites (CA-SBA-513, -739, -943, and -1853) and the historic LF 05 are present within the LF-05 ASA. In summary, it is Applied Earthworks’ opinion that the Project will have no adverse effect to historic properties.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) - Cultural Resource Report

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Vandenberg Air Force Base; Roscoe Loetzerich

Record Identifiers

Project ID(s): 813-20-054

VAFB Number(s): VAFB-2021-25

File Information