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The Alameda Sun received a copy of this letter

Dear Congressman Stark:

In accordance with a telephone discussion with Director Jo Cazenave of your Fremont offi ce, we are writing this letter concerning the curtailment of Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) meetings for the Alameda Naval Air Station (NAS) Superfund site. At our Oct. 6 RAB meeting, the Navy unilaterally announced that, henceforth, public RAB meetings will be cut back to four per year. The reason given was budgetary constraints.

Neither Derek Robinson, the base realignment and closure (BRAC) environmental coordinator, nor his immediate supervisor, Tony Megliola, the base closure manager, is aware of the level within the Navy at which this restriction originated.

We were told that the restriction is being imposed on RABs nationwide. The cost to the Navy of each RAB meeting is approximately $10,000, because personnel and consultants have to travel to Alameda from San Diego and other locations within the state.

The Alameda Naval Air Station closed in 1997. Three of our RAB members have served since that time and others have served for up to 10 years.

Although we have had some turnover, our members have had a variety of occupations, professions and life experiences including base workers, an architect, attorneys, a medical doctor, a nurse, school teachers, environmental activists, hydrologists, a geologist, civil engineers, a structural engineer, a construction superintendent, a school superintendent, a nuclear/mechanical engineer and a computer output specialist.

We have worked together reviewing and commenting on most signifi cant documents issued by the Navy.

In fact, several regulatory public participation specialists have cited the Alameda RAB as exemplary of the manner in which such public RABs should function. Our RAB really covers two base closures, the Alameda NAS and the nearby Fleet Industrial Supply Center Alameda Annex.

We believe that our surveillance has resulted in signifi cant improvement in the cleanup of the base. We would like to see the RAB continue to meet on a monthly basis. Meeting at less frequent intervals, or intermittently, probably will result in a loss of interest by RAB members and the public.

Further, having devoted many years we would like to see the extent to which the base is actually cleaned up. We have seen several instances where the Navy has only cleaned up "hot spots" and plans to leave extensive areas untreated that are above cleanup goals. The Navy says that natural attenuation will fi nish the cleanup over extended periods (22 years or more).

Recently, we have been denied information on the cleanup of various areas of petroleum contamination because this is not within the purview of the Superfund. Also, we have not been permitted to review or comment on site cleanup activities once the record of decision has been issued for a site. Thus, we never really get the satisfaction of knowing how well the cleanup has been accomplished.

Most of the property is slated to be transferred from the Navy to the city of Alameda sometime next year. Our understanding is that the Navy will continue to be responsible for cleanup after the transfer. We would like to see provisions made for the RAB to continue in existence during the post-transfer cleanup period.

The Navy and the regulators also hold monthly meetings of the BRAC cleanup team at Alameda, but on different dates than the RAB meetings. We suggested to the Navy the RAB meetings could be held in the evening on the same day as the cleanup team meetings.

We also suggested using Skype so that meetings could be held from remote locations. To date we have no response to these cost-saving suggestions.

Again, what we would like is for the RAB to continue to meet monthly and for the RAB to continue after the property transfers to the city.

Thank you for any efforts you may make to bring this to the attention of those at appropriate administrative levels within the Navy or Department of Defense.

If you wish, members of our RAB would be pleased to discuss this further with you either in person or by phone. Members of our RAB request a response from you.

— Dale Smith, RAB Community Co-Chair