Safety and Environmental Effects
During the decommissioning of the camp, the government decontaminated Range H, the grenade/mortar/bazooka range, which was located in a ravine in the “panhandle” area of the base near the present-day I-5. In the early 1960s, a mining company salvaged lead and brass from the Camp Matthews ranges. However, over the years ammunition and even rockets from the former base have turned up during construction on the site. In April 1999, approximately 200 3.5-inch (89 mm) practice rockets were discovered in a hillside immediately below the Radisson Hotel La Jolla (which is currently the Sheraton Hotel La Jolla ). This area is 1,000 feet (300 m) from the Range H area of the former base and is now on the east side of I-5. They were found due to a parking lot expansion project involving the removal of part of a hillside (this hillside is now landscaped). There was no charge in any of the rockets and all the propellant was gone. The hotel hired a private company to survey the area for more ordnance with metal detectors but found none. In February 2003, approximately 40 practice rockets were found at two construction sites on the former base. One 3.5-inch (89 mm) rocket was found in the medical complex area of the campus during this year. In 2005, during the construction of student housing units, the following was found: 14 inert rockets (8 2.3–inch M7 series practice rockets and 6 3.5-inch (89 mm) M29 series practice rockets), fragments from 60 mm mortars, M9 rifle grenades, Mk II hand grenades, and 3.5-inch (89 mm) M29 series practice rockets. Small arms projectiles (.30-caliber and .45-caliber) have been found north of the UCSD Thornton Hospital complex. They were corroded and missing their outer coverings. They were possibly WWI or WWII era munitions.
Over the years, the government has investigated the former Camp Matthews site due to concern over the previous use of the base. The first government inspection of the site took place in 1988 due to an inquiry from a construction contractor regarding the likelihood of finding ordnance and explosives (OE) during construction on a site on a part of the former base east of I-5. The next inspection took place in 1999 when the Defense Environmental Restoration Program – Formerly Used Defense Sites (DERP-FUDS) conducted an Inventory Project Report (INPR) (J09CA111001) on the site. Since then, more investigations have occurred in the 2000s. The most recent investigations indicate that high levels of lead and arsenic (as well as other potentially harmful chemicals) are found in the soil and a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) should be conducted.
Read more about this topic: Camp Calvin B. Matthews
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