13 March 2006. Add Google Maps aerial:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=olney,md&ll=39.210609,-77.106868&spn=0.007157,0.016758&t=k
15 February 2005.
The oval-shaped facility at the bottom of the large photos below is the
Oaks
Landfill, a former garbage dump which has been prepared for capturing
methane gas to generate electricity which is fed into the PEPCO system adjoining
the landfill. A photo of a skateboarder in action at a paved drainage ditch
of the landfill.
A
Maryland
Army National Guard facility is located at 5115 Riggs Road adjoining
the FEMA facility at 5321 Riggs Road:
A correspondent claims there are several extensive underground facilities
at this site in addition to the FEMA facility, and that the nearby PEPCO
substation likely provides power to them.
It is a camouflage practice to locate highly sensitive underground military
and governmental sites under benign-appearing locations, including hospitals,
schools, churches, parks, forests, lakes and factories such as the continuity
of government bunker formerly located under the
Greenbriar
Resort in Virginia.
11 February 2005.
M. writes:
I'm not sure about the accuracy of your information here.
I was in the FEMA Olney Federal Regional Center back in the 1980's and it
is not in the location shown on your webpage:
http://cryptome.org/fsc-eyeball.htm
The FRC bunker is on the north side of Riggs Rd, not the south, on the site
of a former Army or National Guard post (there may still be some NG activity
there, but it is not an active base). I believe it was also at one
time the site of a Nike air defense battery. The attached map shows
the actual location.
This terraserver image shows the bunker:
http://www.terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?T=1S=10&Z=18&X=1590&Y=21710&W=3&qs=%7cOlney%7cMD%7c
It is located under the rectangular parking lot in the center of the image
(the parking lot is askew about 10 degrees off north). The entrance
to the bunker is through a small sacrificial oval aboveground building seen
on the left side of the parking lot. Riggs Rd is visible curving up
from the bottom of the image, the driveway entrance to the bunker is just
to the left of the vertical centerline of the image.
The bunker is just a two-level cut and cover concrete bunker with the parking
area on the roof. It is not of the scale of Cheyenne Mountain, Mt.
Weather, or Raven Rock Mountain/Site R. That area has no terrain features
suitable for a tunneled type of bunker. At the time that I was there,
the Alternate Warning Center was in operation and manned 24 hours a day,
and there was some minor data center operations, but the facility was nowhere
near operating at full capacity. I have heard that some other agencies
may have moved in since Sept. 11th, but do not have any more recent knowledge.
This type of bunker offers limited blast protection compared with a tunneled
bunker such as the others mentioned above. It is comparable to any
of the many larger AT&T underground main stations and probably has 100,000
or so square feet of area and similar blast and fallout protection.
I don't know what the large oval earthworks shown in the overhead imagery
on your page shows, but it is located in a floodplain as shown on the various
topo maps I have seen, so it may be some sort of water impoundment.
I don't claim to know everything about FEMA operations and it is entirely
possible that there are other operations in the area, but this is the only
known bunker facility in Olney and is the one that was known as the Olney
Federal Regional Center and is the site of the Alternate Warning Center.
Also on the former Nike base:
http://ed-thelen.org/loc-m.html
Locations of Former NIKE MISSILE SITES
W-93 Laytonsville/ Derwood
L - 5321 Riggs Rd ((P) MDArNG; unit unknown
[{Page, T}
TerraServer
]
[{Koch, M} Dec. 2002 - First of all, Laytonsville and Derwood aren't anywhere
near each other. Although they're not in different parts of the state they're
not close enough to possibly have anything to do with each other. The site
is located in Olney. I know it's sometimes common to use the largest nearby
town as an actual location instead of the nearest town but Olney is not only
closer it's also larger. (two miles away, not ten or fifteen)
I do have a small amount of information about the facility and know of a
possible point of contact who can probably answer questions if someone is
wanting to do any more research. The Nike site was decommissioned in 1968.
The Federal Government built an underground Civil Defense facility on the
grounds shortly afterward. The facility is currently owned and operated by
FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The events of 9/11 have placed
new importance on the facility and it is now manned and guarded 24 hours
a day. The internal activities are now classified.
Two of the original buildings still remain. The assembly building still stands
and is used as a warehouse. The generator building is still in use. When
the underground facility was constructed it nearly covered the launchers
but they ended up being left intact. About two years ago the launchers will
dismantled in order to make a training area for search and rescue teams.
They were filled with chunks of broken concrete and steel to create mazes
that would be similar to a fallen buildings. ]
A - 5115 Riggs Rd ((I) MDArNG; B/1/115th Infantry)
[{Page, T}
TerraServer
]
And, the Nike Launch and Control sites are listed as Maryland Superfund
clean-ups:
LAYTONSVILLE - LAUNCH 5321 RIGGS RD MDD981108814
LAYTONSVILLE - CONTROL ZION RD MDD981108756
10 February 2005
Maps from Mapquest. Aerials from
TerraserverUSA (monochrome)
and GlobExplorer
via AirPhotoUSA (color).
Thanks to A. for advice and information:
There are actually five major facilities in this immediate area, and they
are of the magnitude of the operation of
Cheyenne Mountain
Operations Center (NORAD),
Raven Rock Alternate
Joint Communications Center (Site R), and
Mt. Weather Emergency Operations
Center (FEMA). Also, there is a HUGE communications, data warehouse and
computer operation housed here.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/facility/olney.htm
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/c3i/olney.htm
Alternate National Warning Facility
Olney Special Facility
5321 Riggs Road (Olney)
Gaithersburg, MD 20882
301-926-5375
The Alternate National Warning Center is located in a protected underground
Regional Federal Center at the Olney Special Facility near Olney, Maryland,
in the suburbs of Washington, DC. The Center has access to warning information
at the same time it is available at NORAD. Both the National Warning Center
(NWC) and the Alternate National Warning Center are staffed 24 hours per
day and serve as the primary control for the National Warning System (NAWAS).
In case of attack, the center would sound the alarm over the National Warning
System to warning points operated on a 24-hour basis in over 1,200 localities.
With the end of the Cold War, this function has been deemphasized, and the
facility now serves as a Satellite Teleregistration Facility, along with
the other Regional Facilities, such as Denton, TX.
http://emc.ornl.gov/EMCWeb/EMC/PG/PG_HTML/App_C.html
National Warning System (NAWAS)
NAWAS is a nationwide leased dedicated voice warning network
with the primary purpose of providing information regarding impending attack
to the United States. NAWAS is also used extensively in response to natural
and man-made emergencies.
NAWAS is a dedicated 24-hour nationwide party-line type
telephone warning system controlled from a National Warning Center (NWC)
at Colorado Springs, CO and an Alternate National Warning Center (ANWC) at
Olney, MD which are manned continuously by Attack Warning Officers. NAWAS
consists of 63 circuits connecting approximately 2,400 terminals across the
United States including FEMA Headquarters, FEMA Regional offices, and state,
county and municipal warning points. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration is connected to NAWAS for dissemination of warning via the
weather network.
http://www.fema.gov/pdf/library/1550_2.pdf
The National Warning System (NAWAS) is a 24-hour continuous private
line telephone system used to convey warnings to Federal, State and local
governments, as well as the military and civilian population. Originally,
the primary mission of the NAWAS was to warn of an imminent enemy attack
or an actual accidental missile launch upon the United States. NAWAS still
supports this mission but the emphasis is on natural and technological disasters.
In todays post-Cold War environment, the threats imposed by disasters
make it imperative for all government officials to have access to an effective
and reliable means of warning the public of impending emergencies so that
they may take protective actions. Title VI of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act authorizes the use of the NAWAS to support
the All-Hazards emergency response mission of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA). NAWAS is used to disseminate warning information concerning
natural and technological disasters to various warning points throughout
the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii and the Virgin Islands. This
information includes but is not limited to acts of terrorism including Weapons
of Mass Destruction (WMD) after aircraft incidents/accidents, earthquakes,
floods, hurricanes, nuclear incidents/accidents, severe thunderstorms, tornadoes,
tsunamis and winter storms/blizzards. NAWAS allows issuance of warnings to
all stations nationwide or to selected stations as dictated by the situation.
This manual contains eligibility criteria that Federal, State and/or local
governments must meet to have access to this system as well as operational
procedures.
http://www.state.gov/m/rm/rls/perfplan/2004/20499.htm
The Department signed a MOU with the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) to establish a highly survivable redundant capability for the
Departments Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Information Technology
infrastructure at FEMAs Federal Support Center in Olney, Maryland.
This facility will serve as a live mirror site for the Beltsville Information
Management Center (BIMC) and is designed to handle any disruption to the
Departments communications infrastructure and ensure communications
with our overseas posts. Previous estimates for establishing an alternate
communication site for BIMC exceeded $500 million; this effort will cost
approximately $7 million.
See also:
http://cryptome.org/state-belt.htm
1MD5 - FEDERAL SUPPORT CENTER
Airfield: |
FEDERAL SUPPORT CENTER, USA (MARYLAND) |
Coordinates: |
39° 11' 0.1383" N
77° 6' 0.3927" W (39.18337175, -77.10010908) -
Estimated |
Elevation: |
510' MSL - Estimated |
Variation: |
10W (1985) |
Location: |
2 miles SE of LAYTONSVILLE, MD |
Sectional: |
WASHINGTON |
The Facility
Use: |
Private |
ARTCC: |
WASHINGTON |
FSS: |
LEESBURG (1-800-WX-BRIEF) |
NOTAMs Facility: |
|
Owner (Public): |
FEMA
5321 RIGGS RD
GAITHERSBURG, MD 20882
301-926-5110 |
Manager: |
E.J. THOMPSON
5321 RIGGS ROAD
GAITHERSBURG, MD 20882
301-926-5110 |
|
Landing Fee: |
No |
Control Tower: |
No |
Attendance: |
Season |
Days |
Hours |
ALL |
ALL |
DALGT |
|
Segmented Circle: |
No |
NATIONAL DATABASES
This facility is identified by the FAA as location
1MD5.
The FAA also uses site number 08584.01*H.
The FAA data used in this report is effective January 20, 2005 through
March 17, 2005.
|
|
|