[CPEO-MEF] Army puts old MOT in Bayonne's hands, officially

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New Jersey
Army puts old MOT in Bayonne's hands, officially
Thursday, December 19, 2002
By Ronald Leir
Journal staff writer

Amid pomp and circumstance, the U.S. Army yesterday turned over to
Bayonne the 430-acre former Military Ocean Terminal.

Local veterans and color guards paraded, Bayonne High School buglers
played and politicians spoke during ceremonies in a spacious Army gym in
Building 72. Commemorative pins and American flag replicas were given to
the approximately 100 guests.

Assistant Secretary of the Army Mario Fiori signed a ceremonial transfer
document, as did Mayor Joseph V. Doria Jr. and Bayonne Local
Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Nancy Kist. The official
60-page deed conveyance and related papers were signed at the Pentagon
last week.

Rep. Robert Menendez, D-Union City, told the crowd that the facility is
the first military base in the United States to be transferred to
civilian control under terms of a "no cost" bill that he co-sponsored in
1999, when the terminal closed. The base was used by the military from
World War II through the Gulf War of the early 1990s.

On Sept. 28, 2001, the BLRA received a deed conveying 70 percent of the
former base. Now that the BLRA and the Army have concluded terms for an
environmental cleanup covering the remaining 30 percent, the BLRA owns
the entire site, which is called the Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1040296520199760.xml

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