RAB MEETING MINUTES

NAVAL STATION (NAVSTA) NEWPORT
RESTORATION ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES
MAY 21, 2008 MEETING

CALL TO ORDER

The NAVSTA Newport Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) gathered at the Officers’ Club for their bimonthly meeting on Wednesday, May 21, 2008. The meeting started at 7:00 p.m. and adjourned at 8:50 p.m.

See enclosure (1) for the attendance list.

Ms. Cornelia Mueller, the Navy Co-Chair, opened the meeting and welcomed the group.

APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MINUTES

The minutes from the March meeting were approved.

PRESENTATIONS

Disposition of the Tank Farms Utilizing BRAC (Base Realignment and Closures) Authority

Mr. Greg Preston, the Navy’s Deputy Director/Base Closure Manager from the BRAC Program Management Office in Philadelphia, PA, presented information on the process involved with Navy property identified for disposal, including Tank Farms 1 – 4 (see enclosure (2)). There have been five BRACs in total, including the most recent, in 2005. More than $3B is needed over the next five years to cleanup properties identified in the 2005 BRAC. Besides the tank farms, several other properties at Naval Station Newport have been identified for disposal. This is a total of 358 acres, 269 of which are the tank farms.

The actual process, that starts when the Navy issues a “Notice of Availability and Surplus Determination,” will start when the Navy makes its Master Plan for Naval Station Newport available to the public. The original timeframe was April to June of this year but it will more likely be June or July. Environmental cleanup of the tank farms will be fully compliant with CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act) or Superfund. The level of cleanup is set based on intended, current, or past use, or even a combination of all three.

Conveyance mechanisms available to the Navy include economic development, public benefit, negotiated sale, and public sale. Mr. Preston indicated that the negotiated sale conveyance method would not be used but that the other individual, or possibly a mixture of, conveyance options would be considered. Conveyance mechanism decisions are made by the Navy. With regards to the tank farms, the Navy intends to explore the option of creating sub-parcels and early transfer. However, the Navy has yet to achieve a successful early transfer.

Cleanup Program Update

Mr. James Colter, RPM (Remedial Project Manager) from NAVFAC MIDLANT, provided an update on the cleanup budget as well as a list of the executed and planned work for FY08 (October of 2007 through September of 2008). The entire presentation is provided as enclosure (3)). A total of nearly $3.4M was budgeted for FY08 that included the shoreline revetment and additional removals of soil, pipelines, and foundations at OFFTA, demolition of the water treatment facility/building at Tank Farm 5, continued maintenance and monitoring at the McAllister Point Landfill, and additional field work at NUSC. Work at the Melville Water Tower was cancelled since groundwater monitoring was not required and additional field work at Tank Farms 4 and 5 was rescheduled for FY09.

NEW BUSINESS

• Copies of the reports below were available at the meeting. Comments can be submitted to Ms. Mueller at cornelia.mueller@navy.mil.
  • Draft Sampling and Analysis Plan for Phase 2 Remedial Investigation and Baseline Ecological Risk Assessment
  • Draft Marine Sediments Monitoring Report Sampling Round 4
  • Draft Annual Monitoring Report Operation and Maintenance Activities 2007
• Progress Summary Table – The table was updated recently. The update is included as enclosure (4).
• Field Work Update – Current field work includes the completion of the removal action at OFFTA (seeding and landscaping); sample collection at the NUSC Disposal Area;; and removal of the biopile at Tank Farm 2.
• Gould Island – The Army Corps of Engineers will be investigating the south end of Gould Island for munitions.
• Bulkhead Repairs at Derecktor Shipyard – The Navy is planning on substantially refurbishing the bulkhead between Piers 1 and 2 on the Derecktor Shipyard site.
• Parking Lot at OFFTA (Old Fire Fighting Training Area) – The Navy is planning to construct a parking lot on Katy Field to provide parking for users of a new Navy gym to be constructed across the street.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Membership Committee – The Committee Chair reported that there are 16 members; eight were present at the meeting.

Planning Committee – The Committee Chair did not attend the meeting.

Project Committee – The Committee Chair did not attend the meeting.

NEXT MEETING

The next meeting of the RAB will be held on July 16, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. at the Officers’ Club.

Enclosures: