Clinton Point DEW Line Station

Military decommissioning due to strategic and technological changes. The Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line system, designed to detect Soviet bombers, became technologically obsolete with the end of the Cold War and the primary threat shifting to intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The system was replaced by the more advanced and largely automated North Warning System (NWS), which required significantly fewer sites and personnel. Clinton Point was not selected for an upgrade to an NWS site and was subsequently decommissioned and abandoned.

The site is abandoned and has undergone extensive environmental cleanup and remediation. After its closure, the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) initiated a major project to address the environmental legacy of the DEW Line. This involved the demolition of all station buildings, removal of hazardous materials (such as PCBs from electrical equipment, lead paint, and asbestos), and the remediation of contaminated soil from decades of fuel spills. The airstrip is no longer maintained and is unusable. The site is now effectively an empty, remediated plot of land on the Arctic coast, located within the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, and has been returned to nature.

Clinton Point was a Main Station, designated 'PIN-Main', in the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line, a chain of radar stations built across the Arctic in the 1950s as a joint United States and Canadian Cold War defense project. Its primary role was to provide early warning of a potential Soviet bomber attack over the North Pole. As a Main Station, it was a critical logistics and supply hub for its sector of the line, supporting both its own operations and those of smaller, nearby 'intermediate' or 'gap filler' radar sites. The station's 5,000-foot gravel airstrip was essential for its year-round operation, capable of handling large transport aircraft like the C-130 Hercules which delivered personnel, food, fuel, and equipment. The existence and operation of the station represented a significant engineering and logistical accomplishment in a remote and hostile Arctic environment.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening the airport. Its original military purpose is obsolete, and its extremely remote location, with no nearby communities or economic drivers (such as mining or tourism), means there is no civilian or commercial demand for an airfield at this specific site. The extensive environmental remediation was conducted with the goal of returning the land to its natural state, not to preserve infrastructure for future use. Re-establishing an operational airport would require a complete reconstruction of all facilities and infrastructure at a prohibitive cost with no discernible benefit.