1.1 Site History Overview
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Records Research Report Jacobs Engineering Benicia Arsenal 1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................... 1-1 1.1 SITE HISTORY OVERVIEW ...................................................................................1-5 1.1.1 Military Activities.........................................................................................1-6 1.1.2 Post Closure Uses....................................................................................1-19 1.2 SITE CHARACTERISTICS ....................................................................................1-23 1.2.1 Site Geology and Soils .............................................................................1-23 1.2.2 Site Hydrology and Hydrogeology............................................................1-24 1.3 RESEARCH AND METHODOLOGY........................................................................1-25 1.3.1 Information Sources and Procedures.......................................................1-25 1.3.2 Attachments and Appendices to this Report ............................................1-26 D:\Final RRR\text\F_section_1.doc FINAL 04/99 Records Research Report Jacobs Engineering Benicia Arsenal 1 INTRODUCTION The research was performed, and this report written, under the Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP) for Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS), which has as its objective environmental restoration of former military sites from past military practices. The Benicia Arsenal (Arsenal), located 25 miles northeast of San Francisco, California, was established in 1849 and assigned several missions throughout its 115-year history. The Arsenal functioned as a site for testing gunpowder; for storing, issuing, and repairing Army ordnance; as a principal ordnance and stores repository and distribution point for the Pacific Coast; and as a transshipment depot for holding and storing ammunition and explosives for the Port of San Francisco. Between 1849 and 1944, the United States acquired a total of 2,728.04 acres for the Arsenal, 190 acres of which was actually tidelands located in the Carquinez Strait to the south and Suisun Bay to the northeast (ref 651) (Appendix C1). When fully developed, the Arsenal consisted of approximately 300 buildings, two motor pools, NIKE missile repair facilities, an explosives holding area, and a network of 109 storage “igloos”. Figure 1.1 illustrates the location and boundaries of the Arsenal, and Figure 1.2 presents a 1997 aerial photograph overlain with the 1958 Department of Defense (DOD) configuration for the Arsenal (ref 637 and 643) (Appendix C1). This research report is not a decision document. It is rather an accumulation of facts from many sources. It is the first step in the process; tracing the history of each building, utility, and activity in sufficient detail for judgements to be made about the potential for long-term environmental damage to soil, surface water, groundwater, and air quality caused by military activities. Information in this report is organized chronologically first by area, then facility-by-facility (using the military definition of facility) to allow for greater clarity of presentation. This report does not identify hazards associated with building materials (e.g., asbestos) or hazards resulting from normal uses of hazardous materials (e.g., lead-based paint). Engineers, geologists, hydrologists, and chemists from the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) with guidance, review, and approval from the regulatory community, D:\Final RRR\text\F_section_1.doc 1-1 FINAL 04/99 Records Research Report Jacobs Engineering Benicia Arsenal will continue the process by scoping an environmental site investigation of the Arsenal by reviewing the historical records information, technical manuals, and standard operating procedures presented or referred to in this report. The scoping process will identify areas of potential contamination and potential chemicals of concern (PCOCs) which warrant study. Under the FUDS program, there will not be a total evaluation of the environmental condition of the Arsenal; only those areas which research shows have a potential to have been damaged by the military will be considered for investigation. Also, land previously owned, leased, or used by the DOD that is characterized as having “beneficial use” (defined as use by subsequent landowners or lessors in a manner that would either mask contamination caused by DOD or continue contamination in the same manner) is excluded from further consideration under the FUDS program. D:\Final RRR\text\F_section_1.doc 1-2 FINAL 04/99 Records Research Report Jacobs Engineering Benicia Arsenal FIGURE 1.1 D:\Final RRR\text\F_section_1.doc 1-3 FINAL 04/99 Records Research Report Jacobs Engineering Benicia Arsenal Figure 1.2 D:\Final RRR\text\F_section_1.doc 1-4 FINAL 04/99 Records Research Report Jacobs Engineering Benicia Arsenal 1.1 SITE HISTORY OVERVIEW The primary mission of the Benicia Arsenal (Arsenal) was to serve as a supply and distribution depot, with the functions of storing, repairing, maintaining, issuing, and distributing supplies to the Army. Thus, the history of the Arsenal between 1849 and 1964 is one of alternating expansion and contraction, depending upon the state of the nation at the given time. During wartime, the Arsenal would staff up to handle large quantities of military supplies, vehicles, weaponry, and ammunition awaiting shipment to active theaters of operation. Then, with the end of hostilities, the Arsenal would be inundated by arms and supplies “rolling back” for reconditioning or salvage. During times of peace, a smaller crew would maintain the Arsenal’s facilities and conduct ongoing activities. This pattern of expansion and contraction prevailed from the Arsenal’s founding through the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, both World Wars, and the Korean conflict. In addition to military personnel, the Arsenal historically employed a significant number of civilian personnel during peak periods. At the start of World War I, civilian employees at the Arsenal numbered 45, but the number quickly increased to 300. World War II saw an increase in the number of civilian employees from 85 in 1939 to 4,535 in 1942; and at one point in 1943, despite this rapid staff expansion, 500 boxcars of high explosives were backed up on the Arsenal’s railroad tracks awaiting unloading. After World War II, a “right-sizing” reduced the number of employees to about 1,400, but the Korean conflict caused that number to increase again to more than 6,700 in 1951. When the Korean conflict started, there were still over 146,000 tons of various supplies from World War II stacked in the open due to lack of warehouse space. By 1952, some 3,200 boxcars of supplies were arriving each year. Activities quickly dwindled after the Korean conflict ended in 1953 and, in spite of its subsequent NIKE missile mission, the Arsenal’s decline was rapid. Tons of supplies were sold off or otherwise disposed, and the work force was down to about 2,300. In 1961 the Arsenal was ordered deactivated with a target date of 1964. D:\Final RRR\text\F_section_1.doc 1-5 FINAL 04/99 Records Research Report Jacobs Engineering Benicia Arsenal Privatization efforts following the Arsenal’s closure have resulted in the transfer of the Arsenal property to private entities, and the establishment of a number of manufacturing, distribution, and shipping tenants on the former Arsenal grounds. Chief among them is the Exxon Oil refinery, situated on over 400 acres at the former site of munitions storage igloos. 1.1.1 Military Activities The Benicia Arsenal was established largely through the efforts of Dr. Robert Semple and Thomas Larkin, founders of the City of Benicia. The two foresaw the need for a military post as an adjunct to the new settlement, and won government approval of their proposal to locate an Army post next to their city. Semple and Larkin received 5 square miles of property from Gen. Mariano Vallejo for their city, the only stipulation being that it be named for Vallejo’s wife, Senora Francesca Benicia Vallejo (ref 289). The Arsenal was created in 1849 with a land transfer of 345 acres from the city founders. This site, originally referred to as the “Post at Point near Benicia, California,” was first occupied on 30 April 1849 with the arrival of two companies of the 22nd Infantry, and construction of a supply branch headquarters for the Army of the Pacific was begun shortly thereafter. The troop area, constructed by the Quartermaster’s Department, was designated as Benicia Barracks and occupied approximately 99.5 acres in the northwest portion of the reserve. The Quartermaster’s and Commissary depots were established in the southeastern portion of the site, bordering on the Carquinez Strait. The California Ordnance Depot was established at a site that adjoined the Barracks to the east. In 1852, the installation’s designation was changed from “California Ordnance Depot” to “Benicia Arsenal” (ref 536). Figure 1.3 presents the area of the original Barracks and Arsenal reservations. Although military occupation had begun in 1849, land title litigation was not concluded until 1861, when the U.S. Supreme Court determined that General Vallejo, who had claimed the land as part of his holdings under the Mexican government, had no legal title to the property. This land then became public domain. President Lincoln set the Arsenal lands aside for military purposes in 1862 (ref 536) (Frontispiece