Pomona NIROP
This website provides background information on the Department of the Navy’s (Navy) Environmental Restoration Program (ERP) sites at the former Pomona Naval Industrial Reserve Ordnance Plant (NIROP), in Pomona, California.
The overarching goal of the Navy’s ERP is to protect human health and the environment from past hazardous waste practices and releases at Navy Installation Restoration Program (IRP), Munition Response Program (MRP), and Underground Storage Tank (UST) sites. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Southwest (NAVFAC SW) in San Diego, California manages the Navy’s ERP at the former Pomona NIROP.
The Navy’s ERP identified 12 UST sites and 7 IRP sites at the former Pomona NIROP. All sites are closed except IRP Sites 4 through 7, which retain land use controls (LUCs) in the form of institutional controls (ICs), and that require remedy performance reviews every five years.
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980 created the legal mechanism for cleaning up abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. Although CERCLA did not apply to environmental restoration at military installations, its provisions were adopted by the Department of Defense (DoD) as a model for environmental cleanups by the military components. Accordingly, the process established by CERCLA for environmental restoration efforts is followed for UST and IRP sites identified at the former Pomona NIROP.
The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) amended CERCLA legislation in 1986. Among other changes, SARA established the Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP). The Secretary of Defense provides oversight of the DERP and has delegated responsibility for the DERP’s implementation and the DoD’s lead agency status to individual military departments. The DERP cleans up hazardous substances, pollutants, contaminants, and military munitions remaining from past activities at active military installations, installations undergoing base realignment and closure (BRAC), and formerly used defense sites (FUDS). Because the DERP has a substantially larger scope than CERCLA, certain petroleum releases may be remediated using DERP funds; sites do not need to be on the National Priorities List (NPL) to be managed using DERP funds; and the DoD serves as the lead agency on ERP projects.
The Navy was the administrator of the IRP sites at the former Pomona NIROP and is the lead Federal agency. Because the former Pomona NIROP is not on the NPL, the State of California provides oversight of environmental restoration activities there.
IRP Sites 4 through 7 retain land use controls (LUCs) in the form of institutional controls (ICs). These sites are included in a Five-Year Review (FYR) process; all other sites at Pomona NIROP are closed. The Navy is the lead agency for conducting FYRs at Pomona NIROP in cooperation with the State of California’s Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC). The following is a general list of closure timelines:
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UST Sites: In 1989, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, Waste Management Division (DPW) approved the closure plan for each UST site at Pomona NIROP with the exception that additional site assessment be conducted at IRP Site 1 separate from the comingled UST site, the former Salvage Yard and Metal Chip Storage
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IRP Sites:
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IRP Site 1, Former Salvage Yard and Metal Chips Storage Area: Contaminated soil was excavated, properly disposed of, and replaced with clean soil; the site was closed with concurrence from the DPW in 1991.
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IRP Site 2, Lubricating Oil Storage Area, Former Building 39: Contaminated soil was excavated, properly disposed of, and replaced with clean soil; the site was closed with concurrence from DTSC in 1998.
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IRP Site 3, Hydraulic Lift and Sump Area, Former Building 7: Contaminated soil was excavated and disposed of in 1991. Contaminated soil beneath the shop sump was remediated in 1992 and backfilled with clean soil. All soil remediation activities conducted under the oversight of the RWQCB and/or DTSC successfully achieved the facility-specific cleanup goals, according to the Facility-Wide Screening Level Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment which was completed in September 1996. In 1997, a land use covenant to restrict access to groundwater was recorded for the site.
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IRP Site 4, Former Building 27, North Side: Contaminated soil was excavated, disposed of, and replaced with clean fill material in 1995. In 1997, confirmation soil samples were collected from a depth of approximately 4 feet below ground surface (bgs) on either side of the northern wall of former NIROP Building 27. Analyses showed metals (arsenic, cadmium, and chromium) and a semi-volatile organic compound (SVOC), phenol, in concentrations greater than facility-specific cleanup goals. In 1997, a land use covenant to restrict access to both soil and groundwater was recorded for the site.
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IRP Site 5, Former Building 48, West Wall: Between 1995 and 1997, contaminated soil was excavated, disposed of, and replaced with clean fill material. In 1997, confirmation soil samples were collected to a depth of approximately 6 feet bgs on either side of the west wall of former NIROP Building 48. The concentration of chromium in the confirmation soil samples were reported in exceedance of the facility-specific cleanup goal. In 1997, a land use covenant to restrict access to both soil and groundwater was recorded for the site.
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IRP Site 6, Building 2 (still present): Between 1994 and 1996, contaminated soil was excavated, disposed of, and replaced with clean fill material. DTSC collected excavation confirmation soil samples in these areas to a depth of approximately 6 feet bgs. Concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, and hexavalent chromium were reported to exceed facility-specific cleanup goals. In 1997, a land use covenant to restrict access to both soil and groundwater was recorded for the site.
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IRP Site 7, Former Building 4: Contaminated soil was excavated, disposed of, and replaced with clean fill material in 1995. Post-excavation confirmation soil samples were collected in former NIROP Building 4 to a depth of approximately 6 feet bgs. Concentrations of arsenic, cadmium and chromium exceeded facility specific cleanup goals. In 1997, a land use covenant to restrict access to both soil and groundwater was recorded for the site.
Pomona Naval Industrial Reserve Ordnance Plant
In October 1952, the Department of the Navy procured 164.62 acres (164.52 acres in fee and 0.10 acres in easement) of non-contiguous land from the Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Company, in what is now the City of Pomona. The former defense weapons manufacturing and research & development site contained approximately 45 buildings. The facility was Federally-owned and privately operated by General Dynamics Missile Division from 1952 to August 1992, when the manufacturing activities were purchased by the Hughes Missile Systems Company (HMSC). The Pomona NIROP facility was closed in 1994, and the Navy resumed sole tenancy in 1995. The Navy conveyed the property to the State Lands Commission of the State of California, and then the State Lands Commission conveyed it to the City of Pomona in November 1997.
The former NIROP property is bisected by California State Route 71, currently known as the Chino Valley Freeway. It is bounded to the west by Roselawn Avenue and the property immediately east of Humane Way. The former NIROP property is bound to the north by Union Pacific Railroad tracks and its associated yards and parking areas. The former NIROP property is bound to the south by West Mission Boulevard, beyond which is a residential neighborhood, a Los Angeles County probation facility, restaurants, a market, and commercial businesses. The former facility’s eastern border parallels South Dudley Street, beyond which is a youth charter school and an adult career education center. The road Curran Place is between former NIROP Building 2 and Parcel 17. By 2017, the former NIROP property was subdivided to create a total of 39 parcels.
East of the Chino Valley Freeway, the former NIROP buildings were demolished, with the exception of former NIROP Buildings 2 (IRP Site 6), 3, 30, 31 and 301. The exterior of former NIROP Buildings 2 and 3 have been entirely remodeled. Former NIROP Buildings 30, 31 and 301, centrally located along the northern border of the former NIROP facility between the Union Pacific Railroad tracks, have not been the subject of site remedial activities. By approximately June 2007, the eastern portion of the former NIROP property was subdivided to allow for the construction of 10 new industrial buildings. The property along the eastern side of the Chino Valley Freeway, the largest portion of the property, is currently named the Mission 71 Business Park.
Mission 71 West LLC commenced development on September 1, 2015 (DTSC, 2015a). The Mission 71 West Business Park has been developed into four large, commercial buildings. The Mission Commerce Center was developed into six large, commercial buildings. Three of these buildings lie within the westernmost portion of the former NIROP property (the northernmost of which, Building F, encompasses LUCs/ICs), and three buildings lie west of the former NIROP boundary, on a parcel extending to Humane Way. Veterans Park Sports Complex occupies the former Pomona Recreation Area parcel. This sports complex is a series of four soccer fields with lighting, a large snack bar/restroom facility to the west of the fields, and a smaller restroom facility to the east of the fields.
The Pomona Complex Center, Mission Commerce Center and Veterans Park Soccer Complex constitute the remainder of the former NIROP facility property west of the Chino Valley Freeway. Each of the former NIROP buildings west of the Chino Valley Freeway were demolished and replaced with a total of 17 modern, industrial buildings.
Removal actions completed between 1995 and 1997 allow the entire former NIROP property to be used for industrial purposes. However, Article III, Section 3.01 of the Land Use Covenant imposes restrictions on the uses of the real property bound by the footprints of former NIROP Buildings 2 and 4, the area on either side of the western wall of former NIROP Building 48, and of the real property between the north end of former NIROP Building 27, and the south wall of former NIROP Building 32. Land Use Covenant Section 3.01(a) specifies that remnant contamination prohibits the use of these areas for any of the following: residential use; a human hospital; elder care; a school for persons under 21 years of age; groundwater drilling; and any day care center for children.
Excavation is restricted to 4 feet bgs or less per Article III Section 3.01 (d) in locations to the north of former NIROP Building 27, and to 6 feet bgs at former NIROP Buildings 2, 4, and the area on either side of the western wall of former NIROP Building 48. Additionally, the former NIROP property along the west side of the Chino Valley Freeway is restricted in regard to any oil drilling. Article III, Section 3.02 describes the entirety of site groundwater to be restricted with respect to all uses, including use as drinking water, for agricultural irrigation, and for municipal or industrial applications.
Environmental Restoration Program Background
The purpose of the Navy’s ERP is to reduce the risk to human health and the environment from environmental problems by moving IRP sites through the CERCLA process, from identification and investigation to cleanup and closure.
In 1984, the Navy instituted a program at Pomona NIROP to eliminate the discharge of hazardous waste associated with manufacturing operations. As a result of this program, the annual discharge of hazardous waste was reduced by 96 percent. The Navy removed and/or replaced each of the 12 existing USTs to bring all tanks into compliance with local and State regulations. Additionally, the Navy removed and replaced all PCB transformers and complied with all permitting requirements for air and wastewater. As a result of the Preliminary Assessment, the Naval Energy and Environmental Support Activity (NEESA) recommended that no further action be taken under the IR Program at Pomona NIROP.
In July 1990, NEESA submitted a Preliminary Assessment Report for the former NIROP facility. The report presented the findings of hazardous waste generation at the former NIROP facility. Personnel interviewed reported that all hazardous waste generated at the facility had been disposed of off-facility property since the facility was constructed in 1951.
In contrast to the interview responses, onsite hazardous waste storage included the paved and bermed former NIROP Salvage Yard Area with a dumpster in the Metal Chip Storage Area, and the former NIROP Building 39 shed where machining lubricating oil was stored. A sump in the metal cutting area was used to store residual Freon®-based cooling/lubricating fluid prior to disposal off-site. In 1987, the sump was discovered to be permeable and was replaced. A Site Investigation (SI) found contamination in the sump area.
By 1988, further inspection of the former NIROP facility revealed contaminants in surface and subsurface soil. Arsenic, cadmium, chromium, hexavalent chromium, total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs), and phenol were reported in concentrations exceeding facility-specific cleanup goals, within and around former NIROP Buildings 2, 4, 27 and 48. Remedial actions were conducted by Navy contractors from 1990 through 1997.
Additional background and environmental investigation information for the IRP sites included in the ERP is provided on the Site Descriptions page of the former Pomona NIROP website.
CLICK HERE for information on the Navy’s ERP.