Other Cleanup Programs

Real Estate Screening (Finding of Suitability to Transfer (FOST)

The Army is complying with a federally mandated process for the disposal of excess federal real estate.  This real estate screening process follows requirements of the General Services Administration and Department of Defense Guidance and includes a hierarchical series of steps for establishing the appropriate recipients of real estate when more than one party requests property.  This process was used by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to identify specific future users of the excess property at Fort Ord and was consistent with the results of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), Habitat Management Plan (HMP), and the local community's reuse planning.

The reuse parcel boundaries developed to date are principally the result of the real estate screening process and information contained in the Fort Ord Reuse Authority (FORA) reuse plan.  Of approximately 26,500 acres that will be transferred from the Department of Defense (DoD), approximately 23,500 acres have been identified for use through the real estate screening.  The remaining 3,000 acres to be transferred will be further considered by FORA.  Conflicts exist in the anticipated future use of some areas.  These conflicts will be resolved during subsequent negotiations and through future real estate screenings.

Information developed through the real estate screening has been compiled by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) on maps of Fort Ord.  These maps show the anticipated future use of areas at Fort Ord.  Although this information has not been formally published in a separate document, it was obtained from the USACE and used with information from the FORA Plan to identify future land uses for the risk assessments and feasibility studies in the Remedial Investigation / Feasibility Study.

Underground Storage Tank (UST) Program

This summary section describes the Army's UST program, regulatory compliance objectives, and the goals of the Fort Ord UST Management Plan.  The Army UST program requires compliance with federal, state, and local requirements as outlined in Army Regulation (AR) 200-1.  Army UST standards state that USTs permanently taken out of service or abandoned will be removed from the ground.  USTs determined to be leaking and abandoned are emptied, taken out of service, and removed from the ground.  Appropriate regulatory officials must be notified.

There are only 2 underground storage tanks at the former Fort Ord. These are in use at the AAFES Gas Station. They are in compliance and are tested as required. All other USTs have been removed from former Fort Ord property and certified as clean closed by the appropriate agencies.

Asbestos Management Program

The objectives of the asbestos management program at Fort Ord are to (1) identify asbestos-containing materials (ACM) in Army-controlled buildings, (2) evaluate the ACM's friability, condition, and potential for damage, and (3) implement response actions appropriate to the findings.  An asbestos survey of approximately 350 nonhousing buildings (i.e., retail stores, office buildings, lavatories, dining halls, barracks, general purpose buildings, vehicle maintenance and storage, oil storage, bus/taxi stations, and ammunition bunkers) performed in 1989 and 1990 found both friable and nonfriable ACM.  Subsequently, from October 1991 to April 1993, a basewide asbestos survey of an additional 2,689 nonhousing and barracks structures was performed and both friable and nonfriable ACM were found. A re-inspection of 201 buildings at the Presidio of Monterey and Presidio of Monterey Annex was conducted in 1997. The re-inspection was designed to determine the present quantities and condition of asbestos-containing materials identified in the previous reports, and to sample and assess materials that have been added to the buildings since the original surveys or were omitted from the original surveys.

A summary report for the housing surveys is available to the recipients of the property.

Lead-Based Paint Management Program

The objectives of the lead-based paint (LBP) management program at Fort Ord are to (1) identify and control LBP and lead-contaminated dust in target facilities and (2) eliminate LBP hazards in reuse properties that contain buildings constructed prior to 1978 are intended to be used for residential purposes.  Target facilities are Army-owned or leased facilities constructed prior to 1978 and used regularly by children 6 years or younger or by pregnant women as family housing, child development centers, family child care homes, schools, playgrounds, and similar facilities.

LBP surveys of pre-1978 housing areas were conducted by the US Army Environmental Hygiene Agency (AEHA); the scope of the AEHA lead survey was limited to the barracks built during the Korean war.

Radon Reduction Program

The objectives of the radon reduction program at Fort Ord are to assess indoor levels of radon and mitigate elevated levels of radon.  Radon testing using ASTM procedures was originally performed in the 1989-1990 fiscal year.  Those surveys included approximately 2,900 housing and office buildings basewide.

Army policy dictates that buildings with radon levels above 4 picocuries/liter (pCi/l) be retested for 12 months.  Those buildings with levels above 8 pCi/l must undergo complete remediation within 1 to 4 years.  All buildings tested at Fort Ord were below levels that would require remediation.

Non-Stockpile Chemical Material Program

The Non-Stockpile Chemical Material Program Survey and Analysis Report notes that chemical agent identification sets (CAIS) were used at Fort Ord prior to 1974 for field training of troops in an area described as being "off 10th Street Gate Road past the landfill area off Imjin Road."  In 1974, four CAIS in inventory were removed from the installation for destruction.  Four buried CAIS were discovered during military munitions removal activities in a former maneuver area on Fort Ord in March 1997.  Those CAIS have been removed. The installation is not believed to present any immediate threat to human health or safety due to chemical agent identification sets.