Range Response at Fort Ord

[Aimee Houghton <aimeeh@cpeo.org>]

The Army has just released, for comment, the Final Engineering
Evaluation/Cost Analysis (EE/CA) for UXO remediation at Fort Ord.

In an effort to provide an opportunity for broad community
discussion, CPEO and CSU, Monterey Bay have organized the following
discussion forum.

RANGE RESPONSE

a public discussion on

Strategies for Dealing with Unexploded
Bombs and Shells at Fort Ord and Beyond

Speakers:

Bill Collins, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Lenny Siegel, Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight

Sponsored by:
The Center for Public Environmental Oversight (formerly CAREER/PRO)
California State University, Monterey Bay

Date:
May 2nd, 1998, 1:00 - 3:00 pm

Location:
Media Learning Center, building 18, room 118
on Third Street between Fourth and fifth Avenues
on the CSU, Monterey Bay Campus

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will describe the background and
recommendations from the Army's pending Engineering Evaluation for
former munitions impact ranges at Fort Ord.

In the Evaluation, the Army considers a series of alternatives, and it
recommends three separate clearance goals based upon planned future land
uses for specific parcels. In simplified terms, at areas designated for
wildlife habitat, the principal response would be surface removal. For
sections planned for recreational use, clearance would be to a depth of
one foot. For remaining areas, removal could extend as deep as four feet
beneath the surface. In all areas, clearance would be supplemented with
use restrictions as well as additional, deeper removal in support of
planned construction.

Lenny Siegel, Director of the Center for Public Environmental Oversight
at San Francisco State University, will critique the Army's plan. Siegel
is a member of several government advisory committees looking into UXO
removal strategies. Currently, the Army is treating the Fort Ord project as a
routine removal action, using conventional strategies and technology.

However, since the Defense Department is moving to revamp the way it
approaches such problems there is a chance that the Army may still try
more creative and innivative approaches. Thus, the decisions at Fort Ord
could be precedent setting.
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--
Aimee Houghton
Program Coordinator
The Center for Public Environmental Oversight (formerly CAREER/PRO)
425 Market Street, 2nd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
tel: (415) 904-7751; fax: (415) 904-7765
Email: aimeeh@cpeo.org

A Program of the San Francisco Urban Institute