MARCH AFB CLEANUP STAFF ISSUE

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>]

MARCH AIR FORCE BASE TRANSITION

 Members of the Restoration Advisory Board at March Air 
Force Base, in Riverside California, have flagged a problem which, 
if it recurs elsewhere, could slow cleanup at closing bases. 
Technically, March AFB is a "realignment," with reserve units 
replacing active Air Force. However, so much of its activity is being 
eliminated that most people consider it a "closure."

 Specifically, as part of the realignment, the entire 
environmental staff is being laid off. RAB members feel that the 
change will severely undermine what they consider an exemplary 
cleanup program. They are concerned that the replacement staff will 
lack the experience and site knowledge; that it will consist of people 
with construction, not environmental management skills; and that 
there will be a gap in activity when the old staff is terminated and the 
new staff is either not on board or merely not up to speed.

 I raised this issue at the January 11, 1995 meeting of the 
California Base Closure Environmental Advisory Committee, and 
the Air Force confirmed that its general policy is to re-staff closing 
facilities. That is, when the operating command leaves, its employees 
go too. The Air Force Base Conversion Agency brings in 
replacements to carry out continuing programs such as cleanup. 
However, at all other closing Air Force bases in California, the Air 
Force has "hired" the remedial project manager (RPM) from the 
operating command to serve as the closure RPM.

 The Air Force representative said that the transition problem 
at March AFB was unique. Indeed, the RPM there has challenged the 
Base Conversion Agency over cleanup policy. In fact, some RAB 
members have taken the RPM's side in a debate over the choice of 
contracting service centers. Air Force policy currently requires 
closing bases to work through the Air Force Center for 
Environmental Excellence (AFCEE). The March AFB RPM and his 
supporters on the RAB contend that AFCEE tends to delay activity. 
They want the flexibility, as active bases have, to call upon other 
contracting agents, such as the Army Corps of Engineers.

Lenny Siegel