why was fort ord closed

BLM continues to provide habitat management services to the Army on the remaining lands that have yet to be transferred. Thats because the Monument is actually a little over a mile away, and to get there, he has to walk through a piece of oak covered land slated for a development called Monterey Downs. When it rained, poisonspercolated into aquifersfrom which they drew drinking water. Recruits tossed live grenades into the canyons of Mortar Alley, sprayed soapy chemicals on burn pits of scrap metal and solvents, poured toxic substances down drains and into leaky tanks they buried underground. Fort Ord Veterans Are Falling Ill. Many Wonder if Polluted Base Made Although the military base was closed over 25 years ago, people who spent time there are still in danger today when it . Many veterans of Fort Ord who believe their cancers were caused by exposure to chemicals at the base have been denied disability and medical benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Additional endangered species are found on Fort Ord, including Contra Costa goldfields and the threatened California tiger salamander. Today the base is home to a university, National Monument and construction is underway on a new joint Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense heath care center. Fort Ord is a former United States Army post on Monterey Bay on the Pacific Ocean coast in California, which closed in 1994 due to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action. AP obtained a roster of Gandys co-workers on a single day at the airfield in 1986. The Fort Ord cleanup is receiving the Site Reuse Award in the National Priorities List (NPL) Base Realignment and Closure category. Soon, the group grew to hundreds of people who had lived or served at Fort Ord and were concerned that their health problems might be tied to the chemicals there. The City of Marina is planning a 13-mile recreation trail to run through Fort Ord to the Fort Ord National Monument, the Salinas River, and through Fort Ord Dunes State Park. This coastal gem preserves some of the last undeveloped natural areas and public lands on Californias Monterey Peninsula. Its in part why most of the remaining blight will be torn down to make way for new buildings. Updated on April 29, 2020 Military Poisons | 27 April 2020 Original Article "The Army has revealed that two highly toxic chemicals, PFOS and PFOA were recently found in the groundwater at the old Fort Ord, near Salinas, California at 560 parts per trillion, (ppt), which is 8 times higher than the EPA's advisory level of 70 ppt. The couple were part of the areas Black community, people who the military moved to the area with their families, and who later settled in. The remainder was given to University of California, Santa Cruz to be developed into the "UC MBEST" (Monterey Bay Education, Science and Technology) Center. The site contained leaking underground petroleum storage tanks, a 150-acre (61ha) landfill that was primarily used to dispose of residential waste and small amounts of commercial waste generated by the base, a former fire drill area, motor pool maintenance areas, small dump sites, small arms target ranges, an 8,000-acre (3,200ha) firing range, and other limited areas that posed threats from unexploded ordnance. Quite suddenly she became fatigued with a persistent ache in her bones. All three parks are accessible off of Abrams Drive. The California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) established its campus in 1994 on 1,350 acres of the former base. Commo rat, Extremely sad it was the biggest Infantry US Army post.My Basic Training 1973 B-2-3 Contractors initially brought in to clean up the contaminated groundwater were warned not to tell community members what they found in their drinking water, specifically not the news media or even local public agencies,according to a 1985 military memo. [10], This legislatively mandated mission is directed by FORA's 1997 Fort Ord Base Reuse Plan (Reuse Plan). It gets on your body, it gets in your face, you get splashed with it, and were using pumps to spray this stuff, he said. When the Tree Huggers took it over in 1994 it became this unfortunate travesty.. In 1941, Camp Ord became Fort Ord. A Federal Facility Agreement was signed by the Army, EPA, California Department of Toxic Substances Control and the California Regional Water Quality Control Board Central Coast Region in 1990. The University repurposed some of the Army era structures for their campus including the stadium, recreational facility and barracks. Just down the road at Cal State Monterey Bay, KAZUs parent institution, construction of a new business and information technology building is underway in what used to be a parking lot. Its purpose is to prepare, adopt, finance and . Stilwell Hall was an immense, 52,000-square-foot (4,800 m2) building that stood on a precipice at the edge of the Pacific across from the former Fort Ord military installation.[23]. Although Fort Ord was closed in September 1994, the Army retained approximately 5 percent of the property for a Presidio of Monterey (POM) annex and reserve center. The first buildings completed were dormitories followed by a guard house and stockade. In August 1940, it was re-designated Fort Ord and the 7th Infantry Division was reactivated, becoming the first major unit to occupy the post. The total cost of construction was more than $20,000,000. Photo Credit: BFS Landscape Architects, Photographer Marc Howard. Beautiful Army post. Fort Ord in Monterey, CA. They have not done anything for the community locally. Its many new uses include: The soil cleanup goals were conservative and provided for protection of groundwater and natural resources. Under this privatized cleanup scheme, FORA received these properties through early transfer and is responsible for the cleanup of these specific areas of Fort Ord. 95 0 Ft Ord was closed in 1994 as part of the 1991 BRAC Commission. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); I served in 2/3 FA Bn 3rd AD from '74-'75 Commanding Apha Battery; I remember training in the rain, snow,, I was Fliegerhorst from 1983-84 HQ 2/75th was the deployment clerk for the battalion. She filled her water bottle from the tap before heading out each morning, and thought nothing of the showers she took each night. The Army continues to clean up three areas of groundwater contamination under the former Fort Ord: Operable Unit 2, Sites 2/12 and Operable Unit 12 (Carbon Tet Plume). (Bottom Right) U.S. Army, Fort Ord Cleanup. In total, as many as 1.5 million American troops trained at Fort Ord. AP also reviewed thousands of pages of documents, and interviewed military, medical and environmental scientists. [18], Fort Ord National Monument refers to that land on the former Fort Ord that is administered by the Bureau of Land Management and is open to the general public. Theres so many people who have died of cancer. A lock (LockA locked padlock) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. In yr time, were Service Battery billets still facing the mess hall? Im also going towards a career, its just in a different way, says Allen. Fort Ord is 25 years into its cleanup as a federal Superfund site, and its expected to continue for decades. In the course of their work preparing for battle,they spilled solvents into the bases drains, sloughed chemical sludge into underground storage tanks and discarded 55-gallon drums of caustic material in the base landfill, according to a1982 hazardous waste inventory report. During the Vietnam War, it served as a leading training center and deployment staging ground . This is happening all over the U.S. and abroad, almost everywhere the military has set foot, and the federal government is still learning about the extent of both the pollution and the health effects of its toxic legacy. The single-landing strip and buildings are now the Marina Municipal Airport. On April 20, 2012, Barack Obama signed a Presidential Proclamation establishing Fort Ord National Monument. Fort Ord closed due to a Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action. Most of the forts land now makes up the Fort Ord National Monument, managed by the United States Bureau of Land Management as part of the National Conservation Lands, while a small portion remains an active military installation under Army control designated as the Ord Military Community. Fort Ord Toxic Exposure | ELG Law The report stated that there could not be future health effects, which is not possible to know, he said. Since the day Fort Ord closed theres been talk of opening a museum to commemorate the near 80 years it served as a training ground for Army soldiers., Gift Planning and Making a Bequest to the KAZU Endowment, Dream Of Fort Ord Museum Lives On, As Does Need For Funding. They just turned their heads, they looked the other way., LeVonne Stone, CEO and executive director of the Fort Ord Environmental Justice Network, sits her office in Monterey, Calif. on Aug. 24, 2021. At home, she watered her small vegetable plot with the bases water supply, harvesting the fresh crops to chop into salads. The 3 previous training cycles several died from meningitis. Hated the hard corps atmosphere of Planet Ord. Health insurance, disability benefits and an acknowledgment of wrongdoing, she said, isnt asking for too much., Youre not just serving for six years, like me, and then youre out, she said. We tried telling everybody, the state, the federal, everybody, she said. Despite the militarys claims that there arent any health problems associated with living and serving at Fort Ord, nor hundreds of other shuttered military bases, almost every closure has exposed widespread toxic pollution and required a massive cleanup. Included in that pollution were dozens of chemicals, some now known to cause cancer, found in the bases drinking water and soil. Its to preserve the open space and unique oak forest and support development on the already blighted areas. I met a couple of guys that went up the house on the hill to learn Russian. When Fort Ord was converted to civilian use, space was set aside for the first nature reserve in the United States created for conservation of an insect, the endangered Smith's blue butterfly. In 1994, Fort Ord was finally closed. Collins expects munitions removal will be complete by 2022. I felt like we both were doing the same thing. Military Base Closures: The Impact on California Communities Most of the fort's land now makes up the Fort Ord National Monument, managed by the United States Bureau of Land Management as part of the National Conservation Lands, while a small portion remains an active military installation under Army control designated as the Ord Military Community. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Fusing the redevelopment needs of closed military installations with environmental cleanup efforts allows for the best possible reuse projects in the most efficient time frame possible. Fort Ord Site Spotlight | US EPA Fort Ord is among the most polluted places in the U.S.; decades after serving, a cluster of Fort Ord veterans have been diagnosed with rare cancers. Akey read as much as she could about the base, and searched for others like her. With a gift for linguistics, she enlisted in the Army on the condition that she learn a new language. JavaScript appears to be disabled on this computer. About Bayonet and Black Horse Golf Course: Learn how and when to remove this template message, Monterey Peninsula Community College District, Monterey Peninsula Unified School District, California's 27th State Assembly district, Chancellor of the California State University, President of the University of California, United States District Court for the District of Arizona, List of national monuments of the United States, "Skydive Monterey Bay | Skydiving Source", "Fort Ord: Creative reuse, festering blight blend in Monterey Bay", "Presidential Proclamation Establishment of the Fort Ord National Monument", "Search for Superfund Sites Where You Live - US EPA", "Federal Facility Agreement and Document Schedules Fort Ord Cleanup", http://www.bayonetblackhorse.com/club/scripts/section/section.asp?GRP=23781&NS=AU, http://www.army.mil/-news/2009/12/10/31701-monterey-area-veterans-transition-center-offers-assistance-to-all-local-vets/, "Fort Ord National Monument proclamation", "Fort Ord National Monument, Trail Map and Guide", "Monterey Downs could run up against Army schedule", "Looking Back: Stilwell Hall on the brink, 2002", "Regional Territories: AWA [1955 to 1960]", "Marina's Ron Rivera: Growing up to be a Super Bowl coach", Army's Fort Ord Environmental Cleanup Web site, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fort_Ord&oldid=1156687173, University Villages/Dunes on Monterey Bay, Cypress Knolls (senior-oriented residential community), Fort Ord is the location of Dave Egger's 2014 novel, This page was last edited on 24 May 2023, at 03:24. This included Fort Ord, California. He had a stem cell transplant a few years back, and has been on chemotherapy since 2014. (AP Photo/Nic Coury). Why is Fort Ord abandoned? If youve been given cancer, thats a life sentence.. And we also have larger items, self-propelled 8 inch artillery explosives that are very dangerous, says Collins. The only sounds left at Fort Ord are the. Vets worry polluted Fort Ord made them ill For nearly 80 years, recruits reporting to central Californias Fort Ord considered themselves the lucky ones, privileged to live and work amid sparkling seas, sandy dunes and sage-covered hills. Even though he was going toward an Army career and a police career. It was home of the 7th Infantry Division. Sits on the ocean. A small portion of the former Fort Ord still remains under U.S. Army control, originally called the Presidio of Monterey (POM) Annex. On January 13, 2012, United States Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar visited Fort Ord, addressed a crowd of 200 supporters and announced that he was proposing to President Obama that Fort Ord be elevated to national monument status. Like Akey, she was stunned. Other areas on the base have been, or will be, transferred through economic development conveyance, public benefit conveyance, negotiated sale or other means. Race and Color in A California Coastal Community: The Seaside Story APs review of public documents shows the Army knew that chemicals had been improperly dumped at Fort Ord for decades. You sort of have to be in the know or local because theres no signage, says Salerno. The solvent TCE was among dozens ofpollutants that scientists discovered as early as 1985and today still exists in concentrations above the legal limit for drinking water in the aquifer below, according to local and federal water quality reports. So Fort Ord is far from being the only military installation under investigation by the government for toxic pollution. Twenty-five years later, Gandys comments captured in videos and transcripts of contentious community meetings seem prescient. and the post formally closed . But things are starting to pick up. Fort Ord 20 Years Later | 90.3 KAZU I cried all the time.. I think that they have every right to ask the question whether or not whatever physical ailments they may have was in part due to the failure to provide proper cleanup, Panetta said. In 1990, four years before it began the process of closing for active military training, the U.S. Army base was added to the Environmental Protection Agency's list of the most polluted places in the nation. They are used by the trail communities on foot, on bicycles, and on horseback. Additional buildings constructed as part of the plan were an administrative headquarters building, quartermaster warehouses, and an improved water storage system. From here the relatively small foot print where 36,000 soldiers, federal employees and their families lived and worked now blends in with the surrounding communities that divide up ownership of the former Fort. To date, the military has only acknowledged troops health could have beendamaged by drinking contaminated water at a single U.S. base: Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and only during a 35-year window, between 1953 to 1987. At the time, there were elevated levels of TCE in the aquifers, yet the military assured the public the drinking water was safe. The Army and EPA provide the necessary oversight on the project, referred to as FORA's Environmental Services Cooperative Agreement (ESCA). At the same time, the beachfront property was donated to the Army. But if we do it wrong, theyre going to know, because in about 20 years people are going to start dying, he said. On July 14, 1989, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed placement of Fort Ord on the National Priorities List (NPL). More noticeable is the vast amount of open space covered in oaks and maritime chaparral. We will have a way of connecting the coast to the inland areas. Very slow and time consuming, but its necessary to be able to remove the explosive hazards on the ground surface, so that the property can be used in the future for habitat conservation, says Collins. Fort Ord - Salinas, California AP investigation: Toxic chemicals lie beneath Fort Ord The final basic training classes were held in 1976. Fort Ord 2.0: Revitalizing an Old Base (Top Right) Monterey County Weekly The military is still present at Fort Ord, in the form of several California Army National Guard units, facilities administered by the Presidio of Monterey, the Defense Manpower Data Center, and the continued operation of the base Army and Air Force Exchange Service PX and a Commissary catering to the active duty military stationed in the Monterey area as well as reservists, national guardsmen, and military retirees who chose to settle in the area and are entitled to shop at such facilities. Camp Clayton was built near CA Highway 1, the South Dakota National Guard 147th Artillery were the first unit to train at the new camp. He knew three former colleagues had died, not 13. There were 46 pilots and welders, mechanics and radio engineers. Access to this trail for BLM starts at the Creekside Access point on the Fort Ord National Monument, located on the north side of State Highway 68. CSUMB alleviated a critical college shortage for underserved and low-income students. Why? In 1991, Fort Ord was selected for closure; the post was officially closed in September 1994. The remaining 7th ID units moved to Ft Lewis, WA once it closed. [17] At the end of Gigling Road, where the DOD Building is located, is one of many entrances to the Fort Ord National Monument; the land underwent comprehensive remediation that involved an extensive munitions clean-up. She was a military wife and lived on base for three years, from 1990 until 1993. But it used to love them. Although military development and construction was just beginning, the war only lasted for another year and a half until the armistice in November 11, 1918. One could walk to the warm and sunny beach in minutes from the barracks. Framed on the principles of the 3 Es, Economic Recovery, Educational Reuse, and Environmental Conservation, the reuse undertaking provides a balanced, resource-constrained program yielding new educationally-centered communities, vast areas of open space and conserved native habitats, new housing and job opportunities, and anticipated vibrant new town centers. Soon she was in screaming pain. I did basic & Ait at Ord in 75. Fort Ord Toxic Fort Ord Has a Complicated Past, Present, and Future Camped in the Big Sur. These services contribute to fulfilling the Army's obligations identified in the Installation-Wide Multispecies Habitat Management Plan and support the continued environmental cleanup and habitat management activities on land still under Army control. In 1996, while the Army continued their environmental cleanup, 7,204 acres of the habitat property were transferred to BLM to create public recreational spaces. As part of the cleanup, Army and FORA negotiated an innovative Environmental Services Cooperative Agreement (ESCA) to privatize the cleanup of munitions on approximately 3,340 acres of the site. These groundwater plumes have reduced in size significantly since clean-up began and 10.54 billion gallons of groundwater have been treated. In the late 1930s, the administrative buildings, barracks, mess halls, tent pads and a sewage treatment plant were constructed and additional agricultural property was purchased for the development of the Main Garrison. This beach was a military firing range and closed to the public. Peter deFur, a biologist who worked as an EPA-funded scientific adviser at the base, agrees. To gauge the significance of these changes, the study compared them to three benchmarks: (1) expert projections of what would take place in each community, (2) the experience of a matched set of California bases that had not closed, and (3) the experience in the broader regions in which the closed military bases were located. Were so full of history of different culture, of different meetings of land and water and the environment. This is where her grandfather did basic training, which helped her earn a scholarship from the Fort Ord Alumni Association. Included in that pollution were dozens of chemicals, some known to cause cancer, found in the bases drinking water. Was there March 3rd 1966 for basic then for AIT 64b20. Unsurprisingly, the nearby cities took an economic beating as a result. Soldiers are often stationed at different bases during their years of military service, but neither the Defense Department nor the VA has systematically tracked toxic exposures at various locations. The BLM currently manages 7,200 acres and will manage 14,650 acres after the U.S. Army finishes environmental restoration on the remaining parcel.[19]. After the American entry into World War I, land was purchased just north of the city of Monterey along Monterey Bay for use as an artillery training field for the United States Army by the U.S. Department of War. It supported several thriving small towns on a piece of coastal land the size of San Francisco. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS While much of the old military buildings and infrastructure remain abandoned, many structures have been torn down for anticipated development. Like KAZU listeners, Krista appreciates the in-depth, long form stories that are unique to public radio. Theres no estimate for when Fort Ords reuse will be complete, but FORAs Michael Houlemard expects the former Army base will be 90-percent there by 2030. Fourteen years after Fort Ord closed, the former military base is littered with explosives. In May 2007, the Fort Ord Reuse Authority voluntarily entered into an Administrative Order on Consent with EPA and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) for the cleanup of 3,484 acres (1,410ha) of Fort Ord land. But she said military and state officials were determined to develop the valuable coastal property and, in her mind, didnt want to deal with the pollution. So, I started looking for answers, she said. Like the VA, Collins points to the 25-year-old study that found no likely human risks from exposure at Fort Ord. Change). California State University, Monterey Bay opened on the Fort's former ground shortly after Fort Ord's closing in 1994 as part of 42nd President Bill Clinton's "peace dividends" program. It is now called the Ord Military Community (described below). But there was an underside, the dirty work of soldiering. Decades later, several Ford Ord veterans who were diagnosed with cancers especially rare blood disorders took the question to Facebook: Are there more of us? Through the years, soldiers and civilians who lived at the U.S. Army base didnt question whether their tap water was safe to drink. More than 86 miles of trails provide opportunities to hike, bike or ride horses through rolling hills, pockets of chaparral and oak woodlands. The history is detailed at. At the size of San Francisco, 28,000 acres, it is the largest army base to ever have closed in the US. The 7th Infantry Division was its main garrison for many years. Indeed, the concentrations of the toxics are tiny, measured in parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of an immediate poisoning. Worried about keeping her government health insurance, she applied to work at a nearby airport as a part-time baggage checker while recovering from a bone marrow transplant. The section of the Monument open to the public has a spider web of trails and fire roads for mountain biking, horseback riding and hiking.
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