The Environment Surrounding CSU Monterey Bay
In 1994, approximately 1,365 acres and 4.4 million square-feet of facilities and accompanying infrastructure including 106 buildings and 1,253 housing units were sold to the State of California for one dollar and subsequently given to the California State University (CSU) system. Though one of the largest university campuses in California, CSUMB occupies only 5 percent of the former Fort, which totals approximately 28,000 acres--roughly the size of San Francisco County.
In addition to university development, the now closed Army base will be developed by Monterey County, the City of Marina, and the City of Seaside to provide housing, jobs, and retail and recreational opportunities. Fort Ord lands also provide a unique resource for recreation and environmental studies. For example, approximately 15,000 acres will be conveyed to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and can be used for hiking, horseback riding, and mountainbiking. When the cleanup is concluded, more of the former Army land will be turned over to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the largest park in Monterey County will be just a few miles from the campus.
All properties that have been conveyed and used by CSUMB, Monterey County, Marina, and Seaside have been thoroughly inspected for health and environmental hazards by federal, state, and regional regulatory agencies, and are certified as safe for occupancy. These reviews and tests were performed prior to, and as a condition of transferring the land and facilities for public use. Review and cleanup of other portions of the former Fort Ord have continued under the scrutiny of federal, state, and regional authorities. Only when these parcels pass stringent health and safety standards will they be certified for conveyance for public use and occupancy.
The agencies involved in Fort Ord environmental cleanup and monitoring host public meetings periodically for anyone to learn more and to discuss and gain access to information and data surrounding the cleanup issues. These meetings are announced in the Environmental Cleanup Folder within the FirstClass email system on campus, as well as in the local media.
The mandated cleanup of the former Fort Ord sites off-campus continues and all members of the campus community should be aware of the following issues: water supply system, landfill, unexploded ordnance and explosives, prescribed burns. CSUMB's Fort Ord Land Use website covers these in detail. CSUMB also maintains information provided by the Army about the cleanup in the reference section of the CSUMB Library. Further information can be obtained from the fortordcleanup.com website.