Turners airport work resumes

[ Originally published on: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 ]

TURNERS FALLS -- Work to revamp the Turners Falls Municipal Airport has resumed.

Progress stopped in late October after a subcontractor dug a trench 10 inches wide, 36 inches deep and several hundred feet long through an area flagged as off limits because of possible archeological and cultural significance.

''The tribes and the FAA have come to an understanding about the impact to suspected cultural resources in the area of importance and therefore work is proceeding,'' said Doug Harris, preservationist for ceremonial landscapes for the Narragansett Indian Tribe, on Tuesday, the day after work resumed.

The Narragansett Tribe, along with the Aquinnah-Wampanoag and Mashpee-Wampanoag tribes, are all serving as consultants on the project.

The flagged-off area is believed to contain burials, Harris said. ''It was an area to be off limits until the confirmation or absence of human remains was determined and that was not honored by one of the subcontractors.''

The trench dug in October did not unearth any burials, he said.

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