Military Munitions Response Program

Important:  Information concerning the past use of military munitions continues to be collected and investigated as part of the Fort Ord environmental cleanup.  If you have historical information concerning the use or storage of military munitions on Fort Ord, please contact Lyle Shurtleff at the Base Realignment and Closure Office, (831)242-7919, e-mail: victor.l.shurtleff.civ@mail.mil

Changes to terminology for Army's Ordnance Cleanup Program

In 2003, the Army began implementing new terminology nationwide to describe its ordnance cleanup program.  Numerous written materials relating to the ordnance cleanup program at the former Fort Ord, such as Administrative Record documents, fact sheets, meeting minutes, and pages within this website that were created prior to 2004 include the old terminology.  The new terminology is being incorporated into newly written materials as they become available.

Introduction

Since its establishment in 1917, until the inactivation of the 7th Infantry Division in 1994, Fort Ord was primarily a training and staging facility for the infantry.  Many areas of the base had been used for ordnance training.

The Department of Defense Ammunition and Explosive Safety Standard (DoD 6055.9 - Standard) states that real property that is known to be contaminated with ammunition, explosives or chemical agents must be decontaminated with the most appropriate technology to assure the protection of the public consistent with the proposed end use of the property.  This standard is incorporated into the Army Regulations 385-64 (U.S. Army Explosives Safety Program).

In 1993 an archival investigation was conducted to locate areas where Munitions and Explosives of Concern (MEC) may have been used.  Additional archive searches, follow-on interviews and visual inspections conducted since 1993 indicate that approximately 12,000 acres are known or suspected to contain MEC.  Twenty-nine Munitions Response (MR) sites are identified in the Phase 1 Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis (EE/CA).  The Phase 2 EE/CA established a process to evaluate the remaining sites.  The areas range in size from less than one acre to more than 1,000 acres, although most of the areas are less than 200 acres.  To date approximately 3,000 acres have been investigated and/or received response actions designed to minimize the explosive safety risk to the public.  The removal process used at Fort Ord is documented in the EE/CAs which were prepared in accordance with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA).  These documents received thorough regulatory and public review.

An Impact Area is located in the south-central portion of Fort Ord and is designated a Munitions Response (MR) site. Lands within the boundaries of the Impact Area are expected to have the highest density of MEC, with specific target areas having the highest densities.  Types of MEC found at Fort Ord include artillery projectiles, rockets, hand grenades, land mines, pyrotechnics, bombs, demolition materials and other items.  Known MR sites are posted with warning signs and are off-limits to unauthorized people.

YOUR SAFETY IS OUR PRIORITY:
Don't Go In There!!!

Unexploded ordnance (UXO) can be very unstable and may be a serious safety hazard.  DANGER and NO TRESPASSING signs are posted around areas where UXO may be present.  The most dangerous areas are fenced and signs are posted.  Please DO NOT ENTER these areas for your safety.  If you find any object that could be UXO, DON'T TOUCH IT, CALL FEDERAL POLICE at (831) 242-7851 or (831) 242-7852.

OE Safety Alert Pamphlet

Site Security Program

The safety of the people living, working and recreating on former Fort Ord is the top priority of the installation. It is the Army's goal that no person is injured by munitions and explosives of concern (MEC), regardless of the circumstances. Immediately following base closure, the installation examined site security in areas suspected of containing MEC, to ensure appropriate measure were in place to effectively reduce the explosive threat to the community until removal actions could be completed. The following measures were completed to reduce the explosive threat to the community: conducting removal actions, installing a 4-strand barbed wire fence around the Impact Area, posting warning signs and "no trespassing" signs on the fencing, security patrols and implementing a public education program. A trespassing incident form has been developed to help the Army respond to trespassing incidents in these restricted areas. Trespass in restricted areas on the former Fort Ord is a serious threat to public safety. If you see someone trespassing within a restricted area, or trying to gain access into a restricted area, contact the federal police at (831) 242-7851.

Munitions Response Site Security Program (formerly Ordnance and Explosives Site Security 2002 Program Summary) Former Fort Ord, California, April 2005. Includes Appendix B - Fort Ord Military Munitions Response Site Security Program Annual Reports

Military Munitions Recognition and Safety Training

As a result of the Army's use of military munitions on the former Fort Ord, unexploded ordnance (UXO) may be encountered by those working on and reusing former Fort Ord property. This training is recommended for anyone excavating on Fort Ord and required for all workers entering restricted munitions response sites. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) offers training to all contractors, property owners and workers involved in intrusive (digging) activities on the former Fort Ord. The training will orient attendees on UXO avoidance, the visual characteristics of UXO and the precautions necessary if it is encountered. Attendees will also be provided the procedures for contacting authorities if UXO is encountered.

• It is free
• It takes about 20 minutes at the USACE facility
• USACE will make special arrangements (come to your job site) for groups of 15 or more.

To schedule training contact Lyle Shurtleff, Fort Ord BRAC MRS Security Manager at (831) 242-7919 or email victor.l.shurtleff.civ@mail.mil

Recognition and Safety Training flyer

Program Status

After base closure in 1994, public access to Fort Ord lands increased dramatically.  The Army is conducting various actions to clean up the known and suspected Munitions Response (MR) sites to make it safe for the public to access Fort Ord.  Munitions Response actions are proceeding in areas where there is an explosive threat to the public.  The MR Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (MR RI/FS) program will study various cleanup alternatives and recommend remedial actions that would ensure eventual safe reuse of MEC sites.  The Army is coordinating these Munitions Response programs with the Fort Ord Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Cleanup Team, which consists of the Army, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and California-EPA Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC).

Munitons Response Actions

The Army has continued Munitions Response (MR) actions under the time-critical and non-time critical processes, as described in the National Contingency Plan (NCP).  The Army began conducting Time-Critical Removal Actions (TCRA) shortly before base closure.  Subsequently, Phase 1 and Phase 2 Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis (EE/CAs) were prepared to transition into the Non-Time Critical Removal Action (NTCRA) process.

The EE/CA identifies removal objectives and analyzes and compares removal alternatives. The effectiveness, feasibility and cost of the solutions are weighed, and only the most qualified technologies are considered. From the analysis, the recommended removal alternative is clearly described as the alternative that best satisfies the evaluation criteria. Additionally, the selected alternative must comply with applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements (ARARs) to the extent practicable.

After the recommended solutions are published in an EE/CA, one 30-day public comment period is required.  However, the Army has held four public comment periods and several public meetings for the two EE/CAs.  The Army has responded to all regulatory agency and public concerns to achieve an acceptable solution.  The non-time critical Removal Action is documented in Action Memorandum Phase 2 EE/CA.

Prior to conducting a NTCRA at a site, site-specific cleanup plans will be presented to the regulatory agencies and the public in a Notice of Intent (NOI) for a 30-day public review period.  The review period begins with an announcement in local major newspapers of the availability of the NOI.  Once a cleanup is complete at a site, an After-Action Report will be prepared to document the actions taken and what was found.  These documents are made available at the Fort Ord Administrative Record and in the local information repositories.

What happens in a Removal Action?

Once an area has been identified as potentially containing MEC (through archives search or interviews), the area is inspected by an ordnance safety specialist for any evidence of past MEC-use.  The inspection is documented in a report, which may or may not recommend further action.

If further action is recommended, the investigation continues to verify the presence and determine the extent of MEC.  This is called site characterization, and typically involves completely investigating portions of the site and excavating every piece of detected metal to determine if it is an MEC item or trash.  The information is analyzed using a statistical method to determine the types and distribution of MEC in the site, which would enable the project manager to determine the appropriate cleanup approach.

Once the cleanup approach is published in an NOI, the entire removal area is surveyed for any metallic item that can be detected, and all of the detected items are excavated to determine if it is an MEC item or trash. All unexploded ordnance discovered during the investigation and removal operations is destroyed by detonation.

During the site characterization and removal, the Army’s Munitions Response (MR) contractor performs quality control (QC) by randomly re-checking areas that have already been investigated. If the contractor fails the QC check, then they must redo the grid. An Army safety specialist then performs quality assurance (QA) by randomly checking a minimum of 10 percent of the grids the contractor has completed. If the QA inspection does not pass, the contractor must redo the grid.

Once the QC/QA checks are completed, all fieldwork and the results of investigation and removal action are documented in an After Action Report, which will be made available for regulatory agency and public review. The work will also be re-evaluated in the Military Response Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study.

MR Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (MR RI/FS)

In addition to continuing munitions response actions to address any immediate threat to the public, the Army is conducting the MR RI/FS program, under the CERCLA remedial action process.  The MR RI/FS will recommend actions to be taken to ensure safe reuse of Fort Ord lands.  The Army will re-evaluate past investigation and removal actions, and will determine if additional actions are necessary.  For areas where MEC investigation or removal has not occurred, the MR RI/FS will evaluate risk, vegetation clearance methods and MEC detection technologies, among others, and develop remedial alternatives.  The evaluations will be conducted in separate studies and will each undergo regulatory and public review.  See Environmental - Document Review for currently available documents.

• Protection of human health and the environment
• Compliance with ARARs
• Long-term effectiveness and permanence
• Reduction of toxicity, mobility or volume through treatment
• Short-term effectiveness
• Implementability
• Cost
• State acceptance
• Community acceptance

An alternative that best satisfies these nine evaluation criteria will be selected and presented to the regulatory agencies and the public in a Proposed Plan, during a 30-day public comment period.  After all comments are considered, a Record of Decision will document the remedial action to be implemented for each area.

All MR RI/FS documents are made available at the Fort Ord Administrative Record and in the local information repositories.

Regulatory Requirements

Fort Ord has continued munitions response removal actions under the time-critical and non-time critical processes, as described in the National Contingency Plan (NCP).  Removal actions must comply with the substantive requirements of applicable, relevant, and appropriate regulations (ARARs) to the extent practicable.  The non-time critical removal process includes the preparation of an EE/CA.

The EE/CA identifies removal objectives and analyzes and compares removal alternatives.  The effectiveness, feasibility, and cost of the solutions are weighed, and only the most qualified technologies are addressed.  From the analysis data, the recommended removal action alternative is clearly described as the alternative that best satisfies the evaluation criteria.

After the recommended solutions are published, one 30-day public comment period is required.  However, the Army has held four public comment periods and several public meetings for the two EE/CAs.  Although the public is involved throughout the entire project, peak involvement occurs during the EE/CA process.  The Army responds to all public concerns to achieve an acceptable solution.

The selected EE/CA removal alternatives are either a surface removal or removals of MEC down to a depth of 4 feet but each must remove the imminent explosive threat.  The Army recognizes that there are limitations in detection of MEC.  The Army is in the process of transitioning from CERCLA removal actions into CERCLA remedial actions.  The Army will be re-evaluating its removal action results including the MEC detection capabilities in a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS).  The RI/FS will evaluate MEC detection systems addressed in the EE/CAs to be used in future work on former Fort Ord.

The RI/FS will also likely recommend language to be included in property transfer documents to notify the recipient of the location of the site, sampling efforts and results, and/or response action results.  Removals are conducted to the depths which are appropriate for the given MEC characteristics.

Investigation/Removal Process

Once an area has been identified as potentially containing MEC (through archives searches or interviews), the area is inspected by an ordnance safety specialist for evidence of MEC.  The inspection is documented in a report that may or may not recommend further action.

If further action is recommended, the site is characterized to verify the presence and determine the extent of MEC.  Site characterization (also known as sampling) is accomplished by using one of two methods.  One method (grid sampling) divides the area into grid squares (approximately 100'x100') and selects a minimum o 10% of the grid squares which are investigated, using magnetometers, to a depth of four feet.  Every piece of metal detected by the magnetometers must be excavated to determine if it is MEC.

The Army's MR contractor performs quality control (QC) by randomly re-checking areas that have been investigated.  An Army safety specialist then performs quality assurance (QA) by randomly checking a minimum of 10 percent of the grids the contractor has completed.  If the QA inspection does not pass, the contractor re-works the grid.

The other method of sampling is performed using a computer program called SiteStats/GridStats.  This program uses a statistical method to determine the presence or absence of MEC at a site.  Once it is determined that a removal action is necessary, the affected area is subjected to a removal action.

All discovered unexploded ordnance is detonated on the former Fort Ord. The Army is transitioning from CERCLA removal actions to CERCLA remedial actions.  The Army is in the process of developing a Work Plan which will outline the strategies to address remediation of unexploded ordnance at former Fort Ord.

Munitions Response Site Prioritization Protocol

In response to congressional requirements outlined in the Fiscal Year 2002 National Defense Authorization Act, the Department of Defense developed the Munitions Response Site Prioritization Protocol (MRSPP) as the methodology for prioritizing sites known or suspected of containing unexploded ordnance (UXO), discarded military munitions (DMM) or munitions constituents (MC) for response actions. The Army will apply the MRSPP to known Munitions Response Sites which are grouped into 22 complexes based on Fort Ord's characteristics. Read more about the 22 complexes in the FACTSHEET: Fort Ord Munitions Response Site Prioritization Protocol, and view Tables used to group the complexes. Factsheet and tables were updated in September 2009.

FACTSHEET: Implementation of Department of Defense Munitions Response Sites Numbering System (March 2008)
In support of the Fiscal Year 2002 National Defense Authorization Act requirement to develop a relative priority for response sites, the Army first grouped all know and suspected Munitions Response Sites by the characteristics that would be used to prioritize the removal actions. Those characteristics include the types and location of the munitions on the sites as well as the possibility of the munitions or chemical contamination impacting the local communities. Groups of Munitions Response Sites were named for their location or intended reuse and numbers with a preface of FTO for "Fort Ord" as well as an identification number (example: Garrison-North FTO-012-R-01).

View Report: U.S. Army Closed, Transferring, and Transferred Range and Site Inventory, Presidio of Monterey (Former Fort Ord) BRAC Property, California (June 27, 2003)

Report Summary:
The closed, transferring, and transferred (CTT) inventory began as an inventory of U.S. Army CTT military ranges. However, as a result of the congressional requirements outlined in the Defense Authorization Act of 2002 and resultant changes to the Defense Environmental Restoration Program, the CTT inventory is a comprehensive inventory of both CTT military ranges and other CTT sites with unexploded ordnance (UXO), discarded military munitions (DMM), and/or munitions constituents (MC). All locations previously or currently owned, leased, or possessed by the Department of Defense (except those currently classified as active/inactive ranges or permitted military munitions treatment and/or disposal facilities) are included in this inventory. This inventory specifically focuses on non-active/inactive areas within the BRAC parcel, and areas associated with the installation that may have been used in the past for ordnance-related testing or training, except where such properties are defined as Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS).

Specific requirements of the CTT inventory for Former Fort Ord included (1) mapping the CTT military ranges and UXO-DMM-MC sites; (2) collecting and preparing data to be uploaded into the Army Range Inventory Database; (3) conducting an assessment of explosives safety risk using the Risk Assessment Code methodology for each CTT military range or site containing UXO or DMM identified in the inventory; and (4) determining which sites on the inventory qualify for the Military Munitions Response Program.

The purpose of this report is to present the results of the CTT inventory for Former Fort Ord BRAC and non-FUDS closed, transferring, transferred property located in Monterey County, California.