[CPEO-MEF] Range cleanup may start soon

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

California
TIMES-HERALD
Range cleanup may start soon
By Chris G. Denina
Wednesday July 30, 2003

Environmental cleanup of a former military firing range could begin in
the next few weeks, paving the way for a future public park.

Before the 20-acre Mare Island site near Mesa Road is developed, the
U.S. Navy first must clean the former U.S. Marine Corps shooting range
of materials including bullets, any leftover materials from an
ammunition and explosives storage area, and debris including
glow-in-the-dark marker buttons that came from a nearby old U.S. Navy
dredge pond.

The Navy plans to spend about $3 million on the cleanup, said Jerry
Dunaway, environmental coordinator for the Navy's Base Realignment and
Closure Program.

The firing range project is the latest in millions of dollars in cleanup
work around the former naval shipyard, which closed in 1996.

Since then, agencies have worked on removing contamination left by the
Navy, opening the sites to redevelopment for civilian uses including
housing, offices and warehouses.

Officials are mainly concerned about lead from bullets and bullet pieces
lodged in the ground near targets, Dunaway said.

"We're cleaning up the lead to prevent the ingestion of soil and then
the subsequent exposure of the lead," Dunaway said. "That's really the
primary concern out there. The reason for the high cost is just it's a
very large site."

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/articles/2003/07/30/news/news03.txt

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CPEO: A DECADE OF SUCCESS.  Your generous support will ensure that our 
important work on military and environmental issues will continue.  
Please consider one of our donation options.  Thank you.
http://www.groundspring.org/donate/index.cfm?ID=2086-0|721-0