Chris Bowers, a Marine Corps veteran, tees off during the 9th Annual ESPN 980 True Heroes Charity Golf Tournament at the 1757 Golf Club in Sterling, Va., June 13, 2016. DoD photo by Marvin D. Lynchard
President Donald Trump hasn't finished the ballroom, his giant arch or the Potomac golf course yet, but now he's plotting to redo another golf course at the home of Air Force One, Politico reported on Thursday.
Joint Base Andrews has its own 54-hole complex, with three 18-hole courses. It has long served military personnel and their families and even presidents who don't want to shut down another golf course for security purposes. Trump typically only plays golf at his own country clubs, though he once played at the Winged Foot Golf Club, New York, in Sept. 2020.
But in his planned renovation, he has bypassed rules about water protection, and now Maryland officials aren't happy.
Parts of the golf course sit atop a landfill within a Superfund site contaminated by decades of industrial and airfield activities. Pollutants include heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls and “forever chemicals.”
Trump already waived state and federal water pollution requirements for the renovation last June. He invoked his authority over the renovation, claiming it was for "national security purposes." It's the same reason he says he should be able to create the White House ballroom because it's for "national security." The new Trump Arch is now also suddenly a "national security" project.
Maryland Environment Secretary Serena McIlwain raised “serious concerns” in a letter to the base commander, Politico said. She also noted that state inspectors were denied access when they tried to do testing.
“I take this matter seriously. My inspectors have a responsibility to assess potential environmental impacts and compliance with applicable requirements, and I expect the base to cooperate with them in carrying out that responsibility,” Maryland Department of Environment Secretary Serena McIlwain said in a letter she shared with Politico.
Joint Base Andrews claims that didn't happen. Instead, they say the state inspector was escorted onto the installation.
The White House said in a statement that the president is uniquely qualified to renovate the golf course.
“President Trump is a champion-level golfer with an extraordinary eye for detail and design, and his vision to renovate and beautify Joint Base Andrews’ golf courses will bring much-needed improvements that service members and their families will be able to enjoy for generations to come,” spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement.
Maryland officials say the Air Force does not intend to seek wetlands permits and has not completed applications governing erosion and stormwater runoff. They say construction could proceed before those approvals are issued.
The concern is that if work disrupts the toxic superfund site, runoff could end up in nearby neighbors' backyards. But the Air Force swears that they won't be doing work near the creek and they won't disturb any polluted soil.
“To the extent that a future renovation and revitalization project may be conducted above the landfill, the Department of the Air Force takes careful steps to avoid known contamination and to ensure that any areas of known contamination are not disturbed, thereby safeguarding protective measures that are already in place,” an Air Force spokesperson said in a statement to Politico. “Any future work, including soil management, would be conducted in full compliance with all applicable environmental laws and regulations.”
No publicly available record shows that Trump has played at the course.
Trump trashed the course publicly but then took famed course designer Jack Nicklaus on an aerial tour of the facility. Nicklaus's firm will be in charge of the renovation.
The report explained that it isn't unusual to put a golf course atop a Superfund site because it can cap things off.“
At Andrews, they have contamination with lead, asbestos … they have some serious contaminants there going back a lot of years,” said former EPA official Clifford Villa, who is now a law professor at the University of New Mexico.
“So this is not insubstantial and not an insubstantial potential for release of contaminants in the soil and beneath the cap," he added.
The unresolved question is whether the administration’s promised improvements can proceed without worsening pollution. There is also a question as to whether Maryland will retain any meaningful oversight after Trump’s waiver changed which water pollution rules apply to construction.