Cape Sabine DEW Line Station

The airport was closed due to military mission change and technological obsolescence. The Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line, which the station was part of, was superseded by the more advanced and largely automated North Warning System (NWS) in the late 1980s. The end of the Cold War reduced the strategic need for a dense, personnel-intensive network of radar stations, leading to the decommissioning of most DEW Line sites, including Cape Sabine.

The site is abandoned and has undergone extensive environmental remediation. After its closure, the station, like many other DEW Line sites, was identified as a 'Formerly Used Defense Site' (FUDS) containing hazardous materials like PCBs, asbestos, and fuel-contaminated soil. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has managed a multi-year cleanup project to demolish the remaining structures, remove contaminated materials, and restore the tundra to its natural state. The gravel airstrip physically remains as a scar on the landscape but is unmaintained, unsafe for conventional aircraft, and not in use. The site is now intended to be a remediated natural area with no active infrastructure.

The Cape Sabine DEW Line Station, designated POW-2, was a crucial component of the Distant Early Warning Line during the Cold War. Constructed between 1955 and 1957, its primary mission was to provide radar surveillance to detect incoming Soviet bombers and missiles over the Arctic, giving North America time to react. The 4,100-foot gravel airstrip (ICAO: US-0217) was not a public airport but a vital logistical lifeline. It handled military and contracted cargo aircraft, such as the Douglas C-47, C-123 Provider, and later the C-130 Hercules, which delivered personnel, fuel, supplies, and equipment necessary to operate the remote station year-round. The site represented a massive feat of engineering and logistics in one of the world's harshest environments.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening the Cape Sabine airstrip. The military mission it served is obsolete, and there is no commercial or civilian demand for an airport at this extremely remote location. The nearby community of Point Lay has its own airport (IATA: PIZ) that serves the region's needs. The immense cost of restoring the runway to modern aviation standards and maintaining it in the harsh Arctic climate, combined with the lack of any strategic or economic driver, makes reopening highly improbable. The focus remains on environmental stewardship of the former military site.