All News Releases By Date

EPA GIVES $50,000 GRANT TO FORT ORD TOXICS PROJECT

Release Date: 8/20/1999
Contact Information: Leo Kay, U.S. EPA, (415) 744-2201

     SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently renewed a $50,000 grant to the Fort Ord Toxics Project to promote public involvement in Superfund cleanup activities at the former army base.

     The grant will be used to fund a technical advisor who will review and comment on technical documents and provide information to the public on the ongoing cleanup at the 45-square-mile facility.  The EPA awarded the Fort Ord Toxics Project its first $50,000 grant in 1996.

     The technical assistance grant program was established in 1986 to help communities become more active participants in the Superfund process. The grant allows citizens to hire independent technical experts -- such as toxicologists, chemists, and biologists -- to help them interpret complex technical information and site hazards related to cleanup work at federal Superfund sites.

     The EPA listed Fort Ord as a Superfund site in 1990.  Soil and groundwater at the site are contaminated with volatile organic compounds, as well as lead and other chemicals.  Several portions of the site have been cleaned thus far.  The technical assistance grant will focus on providing information on the investigation and cleanup of unexploded ordnance, which has been left over from past training activities on portions of the base.

     People interested in learning more about the technical assistance grant to the Fort Ord Toxics Project should contact Curt Gandy at 831/641-5353.