George Air Force Base Intro

Did the Department of Defense (DOD) misrepresent the nature and extent of the environmental contamination at the former George Air Force Base, CA, “EPA Superfund ID: CA2570024453″?  Yes.  In doing so, the DOD wasted in excess of $124,700,000.00(1) of the taxpayers’ money and unnecessarily endangered the public, military personnel, and their family members.

By concealing the nature and extent of the contamination, and the complete exposure pathways to George AFB military personnel and their family members, the DOD defrauded the military personnel and their families of their medical care, Military Retirement, Veterans’ Benefits, and Social Security Disability.  Additionally, parents were never given the choice of whether or not to have children because these parents were not provided information about their toxic exposure and the possible effect that it may have on their pregnancy and unborn children.
(see: George AFB’s Children, Exposure Pathways, Health Problems, George AFB’s Health Registry, and Dr. Sabol)

The sad thing is that it is not just George Air Force Base, El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, and Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base that were contaminated to the point of being toxic/deadly to the base personnel, their families, and surrounding community. This happened at almost every one of the 148 DOD facilities that are or were Superfund Sites.

It is wrong to expose the public, and service members and their families to extremely toxic contamination, ruin their lives, and in some cases cause their death. The DOD needs to accept responsibility, and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law anyone who had or has criminal intent to conceal the nature and extent of the contamination at these bases.

George Air Force Base, CA, “Superfund ID: CA2570024453”, is located in Southern California 8 miles northwest of central Victorville.  This former Army / Air Force / North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) base was in operation from 1941-1992.  George AFB is one of 42 Air Force Superfund sites and one of 148 Department of Defense (DOD) Superfund sites.

Google Map of George AFB and Aerial Photo of George AFB

Reference:

1. George AFB narrative , page F-80 – (PDF – 1 page – 373 KB)
   DOD. 2011. FY 2010 Defense Environmental Programs Annual Report to Congress. Prepared by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. July 2011 – (PDF – 730 pages – 11 MB)