I served with WTS-37 from 1978 to 1985 and lived on Longstaff Way on Tustin for five years from 1980 to 1985 with my family. The building I worked out of is still standing across the street from the armory. What seems to be overlooked here is that we did things VERY differently back in the day. Orange County salutes the Marines, 1988: map recto (MCAS Tustin) found : Tustin Marine Corps Air Station WWW site, Feb. 1, 2002 (Tustin Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS); the installation is approx. ODFiNSIsInNpZ25hdHVyZSI6IjgzYjhlYTEzNzU2ZTFjN2Q1ZmU1MTEzN2M5 this was before all the problems were out in the open. The Air Force failed to disclose to the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs that George Air Force Base, CA had several radiological decontamination centers for aircraft and personnel that were involved the nuclear cloud sampling program in the 1950s-60s. _________________________________________. Tim King: Thanks very much Rod for pointing out these important facts, your dad's service was valuable to this country and I am sorry you lost him. All comments and messages are approved by people and self promotional links or unacceptable comments are denied. MCAS El Toro and Tustin Site Inspection Plan of Action. I worked primality as a motor mech. Depending on your disabilities and military service you may be entitled to a pension whether your disability is service connected or not. OTk2OTZjOTU4ZmIyNzY4MmUyZGI3MmUxMzcyMzQyZjhhYWI2NDQyNTlmMDdm Bill, his sister, and Mimiaga are just a few examples of the thousands of service members currently suffering from the legacy left behind by MCAS Tustin, El Toro, and others. In a recent report, the Department of Defense mentioned 12 bases with dangerous levels of toxic PFAS in groundwater. ZjhlYTdkNmViN2IyYjcwZTliYzA5OWM5ZGY0YWI3MjE4NjBlNTU2ZDk5MWM4 That issue would have been under responsibility of the Air Station and MCAS El Toro. Your email address will not be published. 2013. ODVlZmNiMWM1ZmVhZjBlNDM1MzlmOTFkYjU3ODdhZjg4ZTY3NmZhZmExNjlh Had two children during those years. MzBiM2U5NjExZjhjMmMyYThlOGM0ZDhjZGE1MGU1MWUxMmNmZTAwYzU0MjYz I later met an owner of a pesticide spraying company that the farmers on Tustin used to spray their fields. The Environmental Protection Agency identified 12 sites for cleanup. Surface Disposal Area. but also was responsible for the ground support equipment for HMM-362 3dMaw MCAF. Aircraft parts were then lowered in a basket into the vat. 40 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, approx. Ray Alkofer spent three years, from 1951 to 1953, stationed at El Toro, where he and thousands of service members were seriously exposed to many dangerous chemicals. NTdhZTU5NTE2MDFhOTA1YzgxZWFmMzFiNDk2ZDkzMzczNzdiMTVmYjI3M2Rl The TCE is far from the only contaminant prominent at El Toro, another is PCE - perchloroethylene, another chemical degreaser, and another is Benzene, a fuel ingredient that is extremely dangerous. Similarly, 11 such sites have been identified at the Tustin base. The Air Corps Station in Tustin is fundamental to the overall history of the Marine Corps since people here patrolled California's coast during World War II. Contaminated: Groundwater Soil. MjkwNDhlYzFjMTIzMTgwYjZiNmQzNWE0MWFmYmQwNTE2NTQxOGE0ZGQxOWRh But today, as far as compliance with the underground tank-testing program goes, were very pleased.. I would like to know more, if you don't mind, please drop an email to me, tim@salem-news.com I appreciate your contact very much and we protect the privacy of those we work with, thank you. Unfortunatly, only one hangar (#1) was marked as an Historical Landmark by the gov't. Therefore, hangar 2 will be demolished. The Marine Corps treated the water prior to releasing it, but it still. MCAS Tustin, located in Tustin and Irvine, CA, consisted of approximately 1,600 acres. Define MCAS Tustin. shall have the meaning set forth in Section 1.1.1. While Ray sought treatment for his deteriorating health, his wife, Laura Alkofer, fought with the VA for benefits to pay for Rays medical treatment. On July 3, 1999, MCAS Tustin was officially closed, 57 years after the base and its iconic hangars arose from the farm fields of Orange County. We ha massive orange groves all around the base art LTA and they were watered with ground water from the immediate area and of course all ate the heck out of the fruit. YzExZDVhMjhkMzNhN2QwMGIwZWZjNmZhMDQ5ZWQzNDNmZDQzODI2MGNmYzQx The now abandoned Marine Corps Air Station El Toro has a large portion devoted for a park and this portion for housing and development.Tip Me on PayPal: pay. The contamination is about 150 feet deep beneath the base and 300-700 feet deep in the community area . Nobody in both sides of family has any of these problems. ZDc4ZWU0OTczNDlhZTVlOTJjNWVhYzJlNjdjZmY4OTU2NjNlZWYxMzFmNDU1 I also spent a few months in MCAS El Toro and Camp Lejeune. I started smoking in boot camp in San Diego and camp Pendleton Second ITR training and was on leave when Join F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1964 and was ordered back to base canceling boot camp leave. Digestive issues, every piece of cartridge and joint in my body is ravaged! So this means TCE from El Toro makes its way several miles to Irvine without a problem; what they can pull out is shipped due west to the ocean as sewage, and now Orange has a suspiciously similar problem. In late 1991, the City of Tustin was selected as the Lead Agency, or Local Redevelopment Authority ( LRA ), and was charged with preparing the required reuse planning documents. As a long time resident of Orange County, it's been hard to find out why this land hasn't been put to use sooner (besides the economy being what it is). I still love the corps, semper fi. I traveled between LTA and ElToro frequently. I found it odd that a large amount of land at the end of Tustin's runway 24 was leased to a company to grow vegetables, with a similar arrangement in place at El Toro. In late 1991, the City of Tustin was selected as the Lead Agency, or Local Redevelopment Authority (LRA), and was charged with preparing the required reuse planning documents. Although the water district paid for the initial TCE tests and is going ahead with the cleanup of contaminated ground water outside the base, agency officials say they eventually will bill the Marines for those costs. In our article, TCE-Related Toxic Waste in Irvine Much Worse Than Previously Revealed from 8 February 2009, it was revealed that a toxic TCE plume from El Toro actually covered considerably more distance than previously believed. Navy contractors performed much of this work also, and all of the results are filed on the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) EnviroStor Website. Each barrel is listed on a master log and its movement on base is tracked. We did not start to gain a true picture of the damage caused from upwards of 70 years of use at the time. by Roger Butow. (IRVINE, Calif.) - Toxic waste from the now-closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station in Irvine is seeping underground into one of the richest neighborhoods in southern California . Service members continue to get exposed to poisonous chemicals, and the worst part of all is that they are not aware of the damage from exposure to TCE and other chemicals while on duty at installations. It is time for the USMC/USN/DOD and the VA to acknowledge the fact that they knowingly exposed all of us to these carcinogens and take responsibility much the way they did LeJeune. Generated by Wordfence at Wed, 18 Jan 2023 19:25:33 GMT.Your computer's time: document.write(new Date().toUTCString());. Recent revelations on the environmental damage by the Environmental Protection Agency and human health forced the implementation of new laws and regulations about chemical disposal at bases. The Marine Corps has said the contamination was unintentional, occurring when federal law didn't limit toxins in drinking water. Many approved benefits deny within months of approval due to all the bureaucratic red tape and snail pace investigation. According to Pentagon documents, around 385 US military bases have PFAS contamination. Based on extensive investigation of the El Toro base that was carried out by Navy contractors, the place is best described as 'Toxic Soup' as our writer Roger Butow in Laguna Beach has reasoned. When he stood, surprisingly, he had no counterattack, only a conciliatory offering. Date Posted: 1/23/2009 10:59:23 AM. When I was growing up my father was a Marine Corps helicopter pilot and spent many years stationed at the MCAS Tustin facility. I spent time at both El Toro and Tustin along with Cherry Point, New River, and Cecil Field. NTM4ZDAwNjMzMjY1YjljYjgwNDZlNzIzMzk1NzM5Y2RmMmRmZjE4YmMxYmZj As I recall, it was finally determined that there was a major underground leak and it was stopped in the next few days. In my case, I have a 30% non-service connected pension which is 1,072.00 a month. The extremely quick and secretive cleanup or coverup I should say was driven by greed of developers wanting the property, coupled with the Dept. In Hangar 296 at El Toro, 55 gallon drums of TCE were dumped into a heated vat. The base is used by approximately 9,500 active-duty personnel, 6,500 family members, and more than 1,700 civilian employees. Some of my Marine Corps friends have died, some have lost children, many simply can not be located. Please pass this story to all Marines who may have served at any of the 3rd Marine Air Wing bases and let's continue to bring people onto the same page. ok We use cookies on our website to allow you the best possible service. In 1984 I was diagnosed with an ulcer after several years of unknown stomach problems. That 110,000-gallon storage tank was found to be in good condition, but a feeder line carrying high-performance jet fuel had a tiny leak, which has been patched, county officials said. now im having severe pain and the va cant seem to find out whats causing these issues.coincidence i think not. Marine Corps officials said it was Defense Department policy not to spend federal money to study chemicals that have seeped into private property unless there was proof they came from the military base. NGEwYjY4YTg4NWYxMGQ1MDdlMjg2N2I4OTI0YTg4MTNlYjI2OGZmMGFkMDFm I was stationed at El Toro from '83-'87 (MAG-11) while living in Tustin Base Housing. El Toro Marine Corps Air Station (2005) by Justin Ruhge The Department of Navy, under the guidance of EPA and other organizations, conducted on-site investigations to understand the potential impacts on the residents of Tustin and started remediation efforts at the Tustin base. I was just tested for heavy metals and was found to have arsenic and lead, mercury and 2 others whose name i can't remember. To that end, the Marines say they are better armed now to meet the challenge. A Death Sentence for Marines and School Kids? My email is: joeanayausmc@gmail.com, please add me to your page and send info! That is much much higher than the general public. But we like to think weve gotten a bit more enlightened in recent years.. Has anything been linked to autism from these findings? The source was not known and there was concern that we could have a major explosion unless the source was determined and fixed. According to the City of Tustin's, 'Tustin Legacy' Website, MCAS Tustin- (LTA) has an environmental history of contamination that includes but is not limited to, solvents and jet fuel supporting the base operations, and pesticides associated with the agricultural uses. But he predicted that the Marines new attitude will be tested as water and health experts begin acting to clean up what is potentially the largest ground-water contamination case in Orange County history. YzcwMzc4NDhmM2E5OTk4NGYwNDU5YmI2NzI5ZTQ2NzkxYTUxNzM0MDRlMjIx The contamination of the base's wells [and ingestion of toxins in the drinking water] made national news on CNN. I have been hospitalized annually for colitis issues and am currently on infusions at 10k dollars per session (every 8 weeks)to control the problem. NGZmN2Y0Njg5MzdkMTQ2ZDlmOGIzZmQ4ZDgyYTc3ZjkzYTkwNTNmMzIxMTAx MCAS Tustin by Paul Freeman This field was originally built as a blimp base in 1942 as Santa Ana Naval Air Station. MWVlMWJkZTUyZWUzYzdlZDA0YjMxZjJhOWFjMDFiNWQ1NjkxZDc2N2MyNThl I am curious to know if there is a link there. Thank you for your response and comments to this post.kprater378@gmail.com. [2] The airfield was 6,000 ft by 400 ft and began operating in November 1942. I was at Lejeune in 66. el toro and Tustin 66 to68. I had prostate cancer and had my prostate removed 3 years ago. As it turns out, thousands of veterans and their dependents lived and worked on military installations that are now listed as EPA Superfund sites. We would dump gallons upon gallons in our compound behind the building. Strange story I know; it is bizarre that Marines were able to upseat the Navy and take over their prominent base that way, but there was not enough room and it was a very expensive operation as it turned out. It cant hurt to check it out. Storage drums containing paint thinners, hydraulic fluids, oily rags and lubricants must be clearly marked, numbered and stored at one of 60 hazardous waste accumulation sites at the two bases. At the El Toro air station, the Marines in recent years have identified 14 sites, including several landfills and firefighter training pits, where hazardous wastes such as jet fuel and paint thinners may have been dumped in the past. U.S. Marine internal reports highlight serious flaws in training and suggest that the lessons of past accidents have not been effectively implemented. Up until its closure, the base served as a helicopter base. The two blimp hangars that established Naval Lighter-Than-Air Station Santa Ana in Tustin were built in 1942. Jan 2018, liver cancer. School children, whose small bodies are less resistant to contamination with . The TCE controversy illustrates one of the most persistent complaints about the corps: its slow response to resolving environmental problems. A year ago, we were not very happy with the Marines, said Robert Merryman, Orange Countys director of environmental health. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declared Marine Corps Air Station Yuma a Superfund site in 1990 because the use of asbestos around the base had led to soil contamination. The studies also suggested the plume was moving in a westward direction at a rate of 1 to 4 feet a day. NjY5MDQxYWMxOGVlODJkYTRmNmNlNTJhOWFjMjVjM2I2ZGVlNjU1Y2Q1NjUx Another retired Marine, Major William Mimiaga, also suffered from a litany of health ailments such as breast cancer, lung cancer, heart failure, and more due to TCE exposure. I have chronic headaches that started with in the first year I was discharger. Only 80 of the tanks are in use; the rest have been abandoned and, for the most part, are empty. The Marine Corps Tustin base became the first US facility made for the sole purpose of helicopter operations. S. R. Holm Jr., attired in freshly pressed dress blues, listened intently until it was his turn to speak. At its high point, the base employed some 5,000 military and civilian personnel, about 4,500 of whom lived on the base. htnance@flash.net Semper Fi. It was common practice back then to use Tric, perc, PD-680 dry cleaning solvent, jet engine oil, and many other toxins, on a daily basis without any personal protective equipment (PPE was issued as part of new hire orientation at my first civilian job)whatsoever. I was based at MCAS Tustin 85-89. Others have asked to withhold their names. Is there any data being tracked like at LeJeune? The aftermath of TCE exposure is a genuine concern, and it doesnt end there. But Orange County Water District officials warn that if the polluted ground water, which has contaminated several miles of the aquifer, is not removed, it eventually could seep into Irvines domestic drinking supplies. Bill Alkofer, Rays son, suffers from many medical illnesses, including a variant of ALS that does not have any medical treatment. It takes time to react., Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Im afraid for her life: Riverside CC womens coach harassed after Title IX suit, Want to solve climate change? Constructed of Oregon Douglas fir, they are among the largest freestanding wooden structures in the world at 1072 feet long by 292 feet wide by 192 feet tall. ZmViMjg5ZmZhZjExYzNiMmJiZWJkNGQxNTU1ZGQ1NDFmZjM0MjRlNWFlZjJm Reuse Plan When the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Board, a state agency, ordered the Marines to initiate testing to determine how far the TCE contamination had spread off the base, the Marines refused. I think not 3dMaw MCAF u.s. 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