The Pentagon is seen from a flight taking off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on November 29, 2022 in Arlington, Virginia. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Pentagon went into a shelter-in-place Thursday as officials locked down multiple floors and hallways in response to a potential air hazard situation, according to three officials.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said building monitoring systems detected an air-quality issue, prompting precautionary measures while officials work to determine the source and extent of the problem.
“The Pentagon has sophisticated systems to ensure the safety of the building and its occupants. Those systems have detected an air quality issue necessitating precautionary measures until we determine its significance,” chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement. “The Department is executing standard protection protocols, including a shelter-in-place order for the affected area. Response teams are in place and ready to support building occupants.”
The Arlington County Fire Department said its hazardous materials team responded to the Pentagon in support of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency’s Hazmat Team “during a hazardous materials incident.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
The U.S. Capitol on November 6, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Eric Lee/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The House on Thursday failed to pass a last-minute, short-term extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is set to expire on Friday.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — Dangerously high temperatures and humidity are prompting heat advisories from the East Coast to the Midwest to the West Coast.
Here’s the latest forecast:
In California’s Bay Area, a heat advisory is in effect Thursday in San Jose, Oakland and Freemont, with temperatures forecast to hit 103 degrees.
California’s Central Valley is also under a heat advisory for temperatures up to 105 degrees in Bakersfield and Fresno from Thursday to Saturday.
In the Midwest, heat advisories are in effect Thursday from Detroit to South Bend, Indiana, to Cleveland, where the heat index — what temperature it feels like — is expected to near 100 degrees.
And in the Northeast, a heat advisory spans a massive area from Burlington, Vermont, to Wilmington, Delaware, on Thursday and Friday.
The heat index on Thursday could hit 99 degrees in New York City and 103 in Baltimore.
On Friday, the heat index is forecast to soar to 101 degrees in New York City, 104 degrees in Philadelphia, 102 in Washington, D.C., and 107 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Record highs are possible in New York, D.C. and Raleigh.
Commuters in the Northeast should also be prepared for severe thunderstorms on Thursday and Friday evenings.
Cattle roam a field, June 6, 2026, in La Pryor, Texas. The first case of the New World Screwworm parasite, since its eradication from the country in 1966, was reported in Zavala County’s La Pryor by the United States Department of Agriculture. (Joel Angel Juarez/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The detection of New World screwworm in cattle does not pose a risk to beef consumers, and humans are unlikely to become infected by the parasite themselves, experts told ABC News.
There have been a total of six cases of New World screwworm (NWS) detected among animals in the U.S. since the beginning of the month — in four cattle, one goat and a dog, according to the latest update from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The goat was newly confirmed as the latest case to be infested with New World screwworm, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in a press conference Monday.
The screwworm likely migrated from Mexico and Central America, Ben Weinheimer, president and CEO of the Texas Cattle Feeders Association, told ABC News. The U.S. closed the border to Mexican cattle coming into the country in 2024 as a result of the screwworm outbreak in the region, Derrell Peele, a livestock marketing specialist at Oklahoma State University, told ABC News.
Officials continue to investigate the case of the dog that they believe likely may have been infected in Mexico, Rollins said. The screwworm typically spreads by transport of either livestock or pets, Peele said.
The screwworm does not currently present a food safety issue, Rollins said, adding that there is “no need to panic.” A screwworm infection does not affect the meat, Peele said.
“These developments obviously represent a serious threat to our livestock and wildlife, but they haven’t caught us off guard,” Rollins said. “We have been tracking this pest for a long time, and we have fought before, and we will do so again.”
Americans can continue to feel confident about consuming beef safely, Dustin Pendell, a professor of agricultural economics at Kansas State University and director of the Collaborating Center for the Economics of Animal Health, told ABC News.
The outbreak marks the first time the screwworm has been detected in the U.S. in decades. The USDA officially declared the screwworm eradicated from the U.S. in 1966 and successfully eliminated a small outbreak in the Florida Keys in 2017, which occurred primarily among endangered Key deer.
Screwworms infestations begin when a female fly lays eggs on open wounds or other parts of the body in live-warm-blooded animals, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The screwworm is “very treatable” if caught early, which allows the animals to be minimally impacted, Weinheimer said.
The USDA uses the sterile insect technique to treat for screwworm. The highly effective treatment involves sterilizing screwworm pupae — the immobile stage of the screwworm before metamorphosis — by exposing them to gamma radiation and then releasing them into the wild to mate with fertile females. The females then lay unfertilized eggs that never hatch, ending the reproductive cycle.
Millions of sterile flies have already been released in the affected area, USDA officials said.
State officials also apply containment protocols, including establishing quarantine zones, in order to contain infestations, Weinheimer said.
“You’ve seen this huge surge in response by the federal and state officials to stay on top of it as much as possible,” Weinheimer said.
Construction of a new sterile fly production facility is underway at Moore Air Base in Texas and is expected to be completed by November 2027, Rollins said. Once completed, along with other facilities, an estimated 500 million sterile flies will be released on a weekly basis.
Screwworms are actually a fly larva that burrows into and eats living flesh, unlike regular maggots that only feed on dead and decaying matter, according to the CDC.
Symptoms in animals could include a wound that has not healed or a wound that smells foul, Ann Hohenhaus, senior veterinarian and director of pet health information at Schwarzman Animal Medical Center, told ABC News last week. White larva may also be visible within the skin lesions, Hohenhaus said.
Infected cattle may not feel well and may stop producing milk and gaining weight, Hohenhaus said. The parasite can also infect a herd quickly if treatment does not begin early enough, she added.
Infection in humans is not common, Hohenhaus said.
People who have open wounds or small breaks in the skin — such as a scratch, insect bite or recent surgery scar — could be at increased risk of screwworm infection if they are in areas where the flies are present, according to the CDC.
Those who have open or unhealed wounds should see a physician should they believe they were exposed to the parasite, Hohenhaus said.
The outbreak is not expected to cause beef prices — which are already at an all-time high — to increase, the experts said.
The current drought conditions in the U.S. is making it difficult to expand herds because there isn’t enough grass available to feed on, Pendell said, adding that hay and other supplemental feeds increase costs even more.
In addition, geopolitical issues, such as the war in Iran, are causing fertilizer and fuel costs to increase, William Secor, a livestock economist at the University of Georgia, told ABC News.
“Cattle prices are going to continue to be high for quite a while because of these issues,” Pendell said.
However, the costs from the screwworm will be absorbed by producers, and consumers will likely not see any further price increases from the outbreak alone, Secor said.
ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud contributed to this report.
Crews have suspended the search for a missing 5-year-old girl who was swept away in the ocean in Laguna Beach, California. (KABC)
(LAGUNA BEACH, Calif.) — Crews have suspended the search for a missing 5-year-old girl who was swept away in the ocean in Laguna Beach, California, the Coast Guard said on Thursday, as the mayor called the situation “heartbreaking.”
The girl went missing at about 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday near Treasure Island Beach, Laguna Beach officials said. She was with her mother and a sibling near the shoreline when the three of them were swept into the ocean by powerful water conditions, the city officials said.
Bystanders ran into the ocean and were able to rescue the mother and one of her children, but the 5-year-old remained missing, officials said.
The search and recovery effort continued on Wednesday, with rescuers working “under challenging and hazardous ocean conditions, including large surf, powerful currents, and limited underwater visibility,” city officials said.
The search ended Wednesday evening after rescuers worked more than 30 hours and covered more than 90 square miles, the Coast Guard announced.
“Our deepest condolences go out to the child’s family and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time,” Capt. Stacey Crecy, commander of Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach, said in a statement. “Suspending a search is an extremely difficult decision.”
“This is one of the most heartbreaking incidents I have witnessed during my time serving this community,” Laguna Beach Mayor Mark Orgill said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to the young victim’s family, friends, and all those affected by this tragic loss.”
“I am incredibly proud of the dedication and professionalism demonstrated by our Marine Safety, Fire, and Police personnel, as well as every agency that assisted in this effort,” the mayor added. “These men and women put themselves in harm’s way, entering the same dangerous ocean conditions in an attempt to bring this young girl home to her family.”
Convicted murderer Karmelo Anthony is seen in a mugshot released by Texas Department of Criminal Justice, June 10, 2026. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice)
(FRISCO, Texas) — Karmelo Anthony, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf, filed a notice of appeal on Wednesday.
In a one-page document filed with the court in Collin County, Texas, Anthony said he could not afford an attorney for the appeal and asked the court to appoint one.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice also released a new photo of Anthony, 19, in which he’s seen sporting a shaven head and wearing a sleeveless tunic.
He was transferred to the Wallace Pack Unit, a prison near Navasota, just outside of Houston, according to Texas officials, where he will begin his 35-year imprisonment sentence, as he is now in state custody.
Anthony was found guilty of murder over the fatal stabbing of Metcalf, another teen, at a high school track meet last year.
The deadly stabbing occurred at a Frisco Independent School District stadium on April 2, 2025, during a track and field competition involving multiple schools in the district.
Police said Metcalf, an 11th grader at Frisco Memorial High School, was stabbed during an altercation under his school’s tent in the stadium bleachers.
Witnesses told officers that the two got into an argument over Anthony, a then-17-year-old student at Frisco Centennial High School, being under Metcalf’s school tent during the rainy track meet, according to the arrest report.
Multiple current and former students recounted the incident during the trial.
One witness testified that Anthony was asked to leave the tent about 15 times. Some witnesses recalled Anthony saying, “Touch me and see what happens,” during the altercation. Another witness quoted Metcalf as telling Anthony, “I’m not going to fight you.”
Witnesses recounted that Metcalf shoved or nudged Anthony, who was sitting on the bleachers, before Anthony stabbed him with a pocket knife. The blade perforated Metcalf’s right ventricle, and he was pronounced dead after being transported to an area hospital.
Prosecutors called the stabbing “senseless” and “plain and simple murder,” while the defense argued that Anthony acted in self-defense.
The jury began deliberating midday Tuesday before reaching the guilty murder verdict in three hours, according to a court spokesperson. The jurors also could have considered manslaughter, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years.
The same jury reached a decision on the sentence after several more hours of deliberation on Tuesday.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Motorists drive through rainfall as a storm delivers heavy rain to the region on February 16, 2026 in Pasadena, California. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — El Nino conditions are present and expected to strengthen in the coming months, bringing potentially significant impacts to our weather, the upcoming hurricane season and global temperatures, according to the latest forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
NOAA issued an El Nino Advisory on Thursday, meaning El Nino conditions are observed and expected to continue. Its latest forecast calls for a strong El Nino to likely develop in the fall, with a 63% chance of a very strong El Nino between November 2026 and January 2027, which could rank among some of the strongest such events on record.
NOAA also noted that stronger El Nino events only make certain impacts more likely and do not always guarantee strong impacts.
El Nino refers to the warmer-than-average phase of the El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a natural cycle where sea surface temperatures across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean rise and fall. The cooler-than-average phase is called La Nina, while near-average conditions are known as ENSO-neutral.
NOAA ranks the strength of El Nino events by measuring the sea surface temperature departure from average (anomaly) across this region, classifying events as weak, moderate, strong or very strong.
Forecasters say confidence in a strong to very strong event later this year has increased now that the spring season has passed. This is largely because spring in the Northern Hemisphere is when sea surface patterns across the tropical Pacific Ocean are in a transitional phase contributing to lower model accuracy.
“We need to prepare for a potentially strong El Nino event, which will exacerbate drought and heavy rainfall and increase the risk of heatwaves both on land and in the ocean,” WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said in a statement.
While adjectives such as “super” and “extreme” are popular ways of describing the strength of an El Nino event on social media, NOAA and the WMO classify the strength as weak to moderate, strong, and very strong. The WMO noted in a recent statement that “the term [[super]] is not part of standardized operational classifications.”
El Nino and La Nina events occur at irregular intervals, typically every 2 to 7 years. El Nino has been somewhat more frequent than La Nina in past observations, but both phases vary in timing and intensity from one cycle to the next.
As Earth’s climate warms, however, identifying and measuring these events becomes more challenging because temperature differences are superimposed on the long-term ocean warming trend.
“As the climate warms, interpreting anomalies becomes more challenging,” said Dr. Tim Stockdale, principal scientist at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). “Rising background temperatures can make recent El Nino events appear stronger than they are, and La Nina events seem weaker.”
To address these challenges, NOAA and ECMWF updated the way they measure El Nino and La Nina this year, using a new index which compares sea surface temperatures in the central Pacific to global tropical ocean conditions rather than just that region’s historical data. NOAA calls this new method the Relative Oceanic Nino Index (RONI), which helps remove the effect of overall ocean warming.
The WMO notes that there is no evidence that human-amplified climate change increases the frequency or intensity of El Nino events.
Typical El Nino impacts across the United States
Impacts from El Nino, similar to La Nina, tend to be most consistent and pronounced from late autumn through early spring following the event’s onset, NOAA says. There is usually a delay between the onset of the event and many of the associated effects.
Experts caution that the impacts on weather patterns are nuanced. Each season is different, and typical El Nino conditions don’t always materialize.
“Every El Nino is different in terms of timing, magnitude, and geographic extent, and such differences lead to variability in the impacts — on temperatures and rainfall, for example — on a global scale,” Andrew Kruczkiewicz, senior staff researcher at Columbia Climate School, said.
Typically, during El Nino, the northern half of the United States and parts of Alaska are more likely to see warmer-than-average temperatures, with near- to below-average temperatures favored along the southern tier of the U.S., most likely from Texas to the Southeast.
For precipitation, wetter-than-average conditions are typically observed along the southern tier of the U.S. in parts of California, the Southwest, Gulf Coast and Southeast. Below-average precipitation is frequently observed across parts of the northern Rockies, south-central Mississippi Valley, Ohio Valley and Great Lakes regions.
El Nino typically increases the odds of above-average snowfall in the southern Rockies, south-central Plains, mid-Atlantic and coastal areas of the Northeast, with below-average snowfall favored in the northern Rockies, northern Plains and Great Lakes regions.
El Nino’s influence on hurricane season activity
El Nino conditions often suppress tropical activity during the Atlantic hurricane season by producing unfavorable atmospheric winds. In the Eastern Pacific, the opposite occurs, with favorable conditions supporting above-average hurricane season activity.
This was reflected in NOAA’s hurricane outlook released on May 21, with the agency predicting below average tropical activity for the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season with above average activity likely in the eastern Pacific.
“El Nino increases convection (thunderstorms) across the eastern and central Pacific, which causes downstream wind shear over the Atlantic from strong upper-level winds,” said Andy Hazelton, an associate scientist at the University of Miami’s Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies.
Vertical wind shear, which refers to changes in wind speed and direction with height in the atmosphere, is often a primary factor in below-average hurricane season activity. Strong vertical wind shear can tear a developing tropical system apart or even prevent it from forming, NOAA says.
“The rising motion over the Pacific also leads to increased subsidence (sinking air) over the Atlantic, which suppresses thunderstorms and tropical cyclone development,” Hazelton added.
El Nino’s impact on tropical activity will largely depend on how quickly it intensifies. Even so, El Nino is only one of several important variables which influence tropical activity.
Other factors, such as sea surface temperatures, also play an important role in tropical cyclone development and strength. Unseasonably warm ocean waters can partially offset the effects of unfavorable atmospheric winds, according to forecasters.
Global temperature records could be challenged again
2024 ranked as the planet’s warmest year on record, following the last El Nino event, which emerged in mid-2023 and persisted through spring 2024, according to NOAA. However, the return of El Nino means global temperature records could be challenged again in the near future, depending on its peak intensity and duration.
While global air and sea surface temperatures are currently falling short of new record highs, climate scientists warn this pause is unlikely to last. Record highs in global average temperature often occur during El Nino years, combined with the long-term global warming trend driven primarily by human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.
“Warmer ocean temperatures associated with El Nino, together with its tendency to favor warmer conditions in many areas, often contribute to warmer than normal global annual temperatures,” Jon Gottschalck, Chief of the Operational Prediction Branch at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center said.
According to NOAA, 2025 ranked as the third-warmest year on record globally, trailing 2024 and 2023. The slightly lower ranking came amid recent La Niña conditions, which typically cause a temporary dip in global average temperatures.
There is usually a delay between the onset of El Nino and its peak impacts on global temperatures, NOAA says. As with the most recent event, its greatest influence often occurs in the months after it peaks, which can keep global temperatures elevated into the following year.
According to the latest outlook from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, the likelihood that 2026 will rank among the five warmest years on record is about 98.5%, while the probability of it becoming the warmest year is less than 1%. However, those odds could rise significantly in 2027, depending on how the event unfolds.
This photograph shows a Ukrainian long-range drone launched by servicemen of the 9th Kairos Battalion of the “Madyar’s Birds” from an undisclosed location in Ukraine, on May 16, 2026. (Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Ukrainian drones targeted Moscow again in the early hours of Thursday morning, according to the city’s Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, marking the fourth consecutive day of Ukrainian long-range attacks on the Russian capital.
Sobyanin said in posts to Telegram that at least 15 Ukrainian drones were intercepted en route to the capital overnight, with no damage or casualties reported. Emergency responders were dispatched to sites where drones crashed or debris fell, Sobyanin said.
Russia’s federal air transport agency, Rosaviatsiya, announced on Telegram that temporary flight restrictions were introduced at two of the capital’s four international airports — Vnukovo Airport to the southwest of Moscow and Zhukovsky Airport to the southeast of the city.
The drones targeting Moscow were among at least 330 Ukrainian drones reported to be shot down by Russia’s Defense Ministry on Wednesday night and into Thursday morning.
Rosaviatsiya said that flight restrictions were also introduced at airports in the cities of Sochi and Gelendzhik on Russia’s Black Sea coast, plus in the city of Krasnodar in southern Russia. All three cities are in the Krasnodar Krai region.
Regional Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev said in a post to Telegram that a “drone hazard” warning was in effect for the entire territory.
Drone debris, Kondratyev said, hit an apartment building in the city of Krasnodar resulting in a fire and injuring two people. Several homes in the district of Seversky, to the southeast of Krasnodar, were also damaged by a drone attack with one person injured, Kondratyev said.
But Andriy Kovalenko, the head of the Counter-Disinformation Center operating as part of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said on Telegram that a major oil refinery in the region was also targeted in the overnight attack.
The Afipsky Refinery, Kovalenko said, “has been damaged and a fire broke out on its premises.” The facility sits just south of Krasnodar and has already been attacked twice by Ukrainian drones — first in February 2025 and again in March 2026.
Russia continued its own long-range strikes into Ukraine overnight into Thursday morning. Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched two ballistic missiles and 221 drones in its latest barrage, of which 195 drones were intercepted or otherwise suppressed.
Both missiles and 21 drones impacted across nine locations, the air force said.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with reporters while aboard Air Force One en route to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin on June 5, 2026. President Trump is traveling to an event at Custer Farms in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Soon after President Donald Trump said in the Oval Office on Wednesday that the United States has been secretly ferrying “millions of barrels” of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, Trump announced on social media that “more than 100 MILLION Barrels of Oil” and “more than 200 Commercial Ships” have successfully traveled through the strait.
“Last month, I directed our Great U.S. Military to execute a secret mission to support Oil Tankers and other Commercial Ships through the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote on his social media platform.
“Today, I am pleased to announce that this effort has resulted in more than 100 MILLION Barrels of Oil making its way through the Straight, and into the Open Market. More than 200 Commercial Ships have safely traveled through the Strait.”
The president referred to it as a “secret mission” that he says was conducted last month amid the ongoing war with Iran, which has led the strait to be closed to regular commercial shipping.
ABC News could not immediately verify the accuracy of Trump’s claims and the numbers of oil barrels and ships that he claims have passed through the Strait of Hormuz.
Earlier Wednesday, in the Oval Office, Trump alluded to apparent U.S. operations to stimulate shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, with Trump claiming that the U.S. recently “took” 22 ships, amounting to millions of barrels of oil, through the strait.
“Do you know, we’ve been taking out millions of barrels of oil? Nobody knows it. You know who doesn’t know about it? Iran, until right now. We took out the other night 22 ships late at night with no lights, because they don’t have any radar, because we blasted the crap out of it,” Trump said.
In his post Wednesday afternoon, Trump referred to the alleged operation as a “wildly successful effort” that is due to the U.S. blockade on the Strait of Hormuz.
“This wildly successful effort is because the UNITED STATES of AMERICA CONTROLS the Strait of Hormuz — NOT Iran,” Trump wrote.
Since last month, there have been reports of the U.S. Navy helping ships navigate through the Strait of Hormuz — though U.S. officials have said that the efforts have not been a revival of Project Freedom, the short-lived U.S. military initiative to escort commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump announced Project Freedom in early May — pausing the effort just two days later.
Rather, this most recent effort was a coordination effort where shippers could contact U.S. Central Command and in turn, receive information about where to transit through the Strait of Hormuz, according to a U.S. official.
ABC News confirmed the Times’ report that, as of late last month, approximately 70 commercial ships had been guided through the strait. In addition to the U.S. coordinating safe passageways, the Times reported that many of the vessels traveling through the strait had turned off their transponders to “avoid detection.”
During the Oval Office event earlier Wednesday afternoon, Trump had also indicated that he was choosing to reveal this “secret” mission now because the Iranians had “figured it out.”
“But now I’m going to tell you, because they just figured it out. So now that they figured it out, I can tell you it was very hard for me. I wanted to say it so bad, but it was. I didn’t want to ruin it, but it was very hard,” Trump said.
This rendering shows what President Donald Trump’s “triumphal arch” would look like from the Lincoln Memorial. (National Capital Planning Commission)
(WASHINGTON) — To complete Donald Trump’s “Triumphal Arch” by the time he leaves office, the National Park Service plans to have construction take place 20 hours per day over the next two to three years, according to planning documents released by the Department of the Interior.
The National Park Service last week released designs, renderings and reports related to the planned arch as it seeks public comment about the controversial addition to the D.C. skyline.
“Because the Arch is intended to celebrate 250 years of American independence. … smaller heights were not considered representative of this milestone, unlike the 250-foot Arch proposed in the undertaking,” one of the reports said about the size of the project.
The project is being challenged in federal court, though lawsuits challenging the arch, and other projects like Trump’s White House Ballroom, planned golf course renovations and the repainting and sealing of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool have so far been unsuccessful in stopping work.
Current designs call for the massive arch to be constructed out of concrete and clad with U.S.-sourced granite — a departure from some of the older D.C. monuments which are constructed from marble or limestone. According to planning documents, construction workers will require multiple cranes up to 320-feet tall — taller than the U.S. Capitol building — and other heavy construction equipment, including concrete pumps, forklifts, skid steers and other tools.
Because the monument will sit near the complicated flight paths for D.C.’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), architects included “aviation required safety lighting” into the design of the arch, using the “least intrusive technology available” to minimize light pollution, according to planning documents.
The FAA recently completed a feasibility study about the arch and concluded it would have “no significant adverse effect on airspace and visual/instrument procedures” for the airport and that it would only require red obstruction lights.
“Career safety experts found no adverse impacts to operations at DCA. Their review determined the only requirement would be the top of the structure would need to be lit with red obstruction lights — a common safety tool,” an FAA spokesperson said in a statement, adding that it will next conduct a full aeronautical study with the National Park Service.
According to the documents, the project will include seven phases of construction over a two-to-three-year period. After workers excavate the site, construction would involve about five months of “continuous heavy equipment operations” to drive the foundation system down about 75 feet to bedrock. The NPS report estimated that removing material for the foundation would require about 30 trucks to move 100 loads of soil per day for months.
Once the foundation is completed, workers plan to spend about 10 months constructing the primary concrete structure of the arch and then affix granite panels to the concrete.
“Work would occur year-round, with work occurring in two 10-hour shifts per day (20 hours per day, year-round) for the duration of the construction period,” a NPS report said.
Around the same timeframe, construction workers will begin to assemble the inner structure of the arch, including stairs, elevators, roofing, plumbing, and electrical work. After about two years of work, plans call for a 300-foot mobile crane to be used to install a gold statue atop the arch.
The National Park Service said the construction would likely result in significant traffic disruptions around the Arlington Memorial Bridge.
The design for the arch has not yet been approved by the National Capital Planning Commission. During a hearing last week, the commission asked the Trump administration to address a series of issues with their design, though Trump falsely claimed the design had been approved.
A group of Vietnam veterans also sued over the arch earlier this year and are asking a federal judge to block the construction, arguing the arch should be approved by Congress.
“With every passing day, Defendants’ arch moves closer to construction,” they wrote in a recent court filing.
The Trump administration has argued that a 100-year-old statute related to the building of the nearby Arlington Memorial Bridge authorizes construction of the arch. Department of Justice lawyers have also argued that the plaintiffs lack standing and that the lawsuit is premature.
“Forcing such disclosures of internal deliberations — before NPS has concluded its decision-making process — would ‘wreak havoc’ on the Executive Branch,” DOJ lawyers wrote in a court filing.
