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鈥淲e are recycling, reclaiming, reusing almost everything that we possibly can from that building,鈥� Easton Airport Manager Micah Risher said.

Construction of Runway 422 involves shifting the runway 1,000 feet to come into compliance with FAA regulations requiring a 1,000-foot runway safety area on each end of a runway.

The new portions of the runway will use crushed cinder block and brick from the Black & Decker building.

鈥淚t鈥檚 gonna be used as the sub base of the new airfield,鈥� Risher said. 鈥淚鈥檓 very proud of this, the fact that we are using all of this stuff in the new runway.鈥�

The demolition and recycling of the Black & Decker building is nearing completion. Easton Airport is awaiting a permit to pull up the concrete slab.

According to Easton Airport鈥檚 website, an environmental assessment was started in 2006 to plan for future safety improvements, modernization and to determine how the airport would conform to new FAA airport design standards.

鈥淎fter an exhaustive 12-year assessment, Easton Airport鈥檚 plan was approved in 2018,鈥� the website reads. 鈥淭he Airfield Modernization Program design process and work on enabling projects moved forward soon after.鈥�

The modernization project, now in its second phase, includes upgrades like LED lights, multiple new on-ramps, and creating two 1,000-foot grass fields at each end of Runway 422. The airport will grade the area level to each end of the runway that runs roughly north and south.

In the process of leveling out the grass fields, Easton Airport included a 13-acre wetland site to help avoid pollution in the Chesapeake Bay and to help process stormwater at the airport.

鈥淲e made a lot of improvements already in Phase 1,鈥� Risher said. 鈥淲e put in these long, shallow ditches that will run into this wetland down here, and that will just act as a natural filter to clean stormwater runoff as it leads to the problem.

鈥淭his project has so many positive environmental improvements,鈥� he said.

Those improvements include removing 13 acres of pavement.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 going to help the runoff situation,鈥� Risher said. 鈥淲hen rain hits pavement, it just runs right off fast. When it hits natural land, it鈥檚 absorbed, it slowly goes through.鈥�

Phase 2 is expected to be completed this fall, he said.

While Phase 2 plays a big part in the next steps of the modernization, Risher said Easton Airport has another vision he hopes can be achieved during the modernization project.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 have a time frame yet, but plans are absolutely in the works to put a small community park out here once it鈥檚 all said and done,鈥� Risher said. 鈥淚鈥檝e had that vision for years, where people can come in and see the airplane, like an aircraft viewing area.鈥�