Concord Naval Weapons Station Spring Tour Report

Mount Diablo Creek Watershed Planning Group

April 8, 2006

Jessica Hamburger, Watershed Coordinator, Contra Costa Resource Conservation District

Speakers:

Leslye Asera, Community Relations Manager, City of Concord

Jerry Dunaway, BRAC Environmental Coordinator, U.S. Navy

Jim Hale, Wildlife Biologist, Contra Costa Fish and Wildlife Committee

Phillip Ramsey, Lead Remedial Project Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

John Roskelley, Mount Diablo State Park

Other Participants:

Concord Parks Commission: Michael Miller

Concord Residents: Rich Walter, Hsun and Gary Hsueh

CNWS Local Reuse Association: Ray O'Brien

CNWS Neighborhood Alliance: Kathy Barnett, Dave Barr, Kathryn Dano, Kathy Gleason, Bev Marshall and Tom O’Ban, Carol Nelson, Nancy Sasser, Matt and Amy Steinmetz

CNWS Restoration Advisory Board: Igor Skaredoff.

Dana Estates Neighborhood Alliance: Ken Weis

Mount Diablo Interpretive Association: Nancy Topp

Save Mount Diablo: Scott and Claudia Hein

Sierra Club: Steve Bakaley, Michele Perrault, Jacqueline Thalberg

Baypoint Municipal Advisory Committee: Steve Hoagland

Tour Activities

Participants carpooled to three sites on the Concord Naval Weapons Station (CNWS). They stopped under the Willow Pass Road overpass and viewed cliff swallow nests, then stopped at an overlook with views of the bunkers. They viewed California poppies near Cistern Pond and a golden eagle nest in a eucalyptus tree. They returned to the Willow Pass Rd. overpass and observed high flows in Mount Diablo Creek.

• Jim Hale of the Contra Costa Fish and Wildlife Committee described the natural and cultural history of the base.
• John Roskelley of Mount Diablo State Park told the group about his agency’s interest in collaborating with other groups to restore the steelhead run to Mount Diablo Creek, which flows through the base.
• Phillip Ramsey of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency described the contaminated sites on the base, including arsenic in soil in the bunker area. He invited participants to join the Navy’s Restoration Advisory Board for the CNWS, which meets on the first Wednesday of the month at 6:30—8:30 pm. For more information contact him at ramsey.phillip@epa.gov.
• Jerry Dunaway, Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Environmental Coordinator, described the Navy’s cleanup programs, including the Munitions Response Program, which will clean up weapons materials. He distributed a map and a handout describing the chemicals of concern at contaminated sites and the next steps for cleaning them up.
• Jessica Hamburger gave a progress report on the Mount Diablo Creek Watershed Planning Group and urged participants to attend the next Planning Group meeting on the Future of the CNWS.
• Leslye Asera, Community Relations Manager for the City of Concord, announced the May 6 CNWS Community Forum/Ideas Fair. She also described the Community Advisory Committee and the Technical Advisory Committee in assisting the City Council in developing the Reuse Plan for the base. Over the next few months, the city will be determining how members of the Community Advisory Committee will be selected and how they will be asked to work with networks to represent different constituencies, e.g., neighboring communities, environmental groups, etc.

Upcoming Events

Mount Diablo Creek Watershed Planning Group Meeting: Future of the CNWS 

Tuesday, April 18, 6:30-8:30 pm

Farm Bureau Hall, 5554 Clayton Rd., Concord

http://www.ccrcd.org/

CNWS Community Forum/Ideas Fair

Saturday, May 6, 9:30 am-12:30 pm

Concord High School, 4200 Concord Blvd.

http://www.cityofconcord.org/about/cnws.htm