Concord Naval Weapons Station

Concord Naval Weapons Station was a military base built north of Concord City, California on the shore of the Sacramento River in 1942, where it extended into Suisun Bay. The station served as a storage depot for armaments from World War II, supplying ships at Port Chicago. It also had a Naval Outlying Field at the south edge of the base during World War II. It ceased to be an operational airfield after World War II. Concord NWS stored and transported thousands of tons of material through the Pacific Ocean during the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Gulf War.

The station consisted of two areas: the Inland Area (5,028 acres (2,035 ha)), which is within the Concord city limits, and the Tidal Area (7,630 acres (3,088 ha)). Owing to shifts in military activities, parts of the Inland Region began to be mothballed, and by 1999 the station had only a small contingent of military personnel and mostly included empty munitions storage bunkers, empty warehouses and disused support structures. In 2007, the U.S. federal government announced it would close the Naval station’s Inland Area. The base’s Tidal area was not timed for closure.

Concord’s 5-member City Council, acting as the federally appointed Local Redevelopment Authority, is in the process of formulating an Inland Area Regeneration Plan that incorporates residential and industrial development while reserving about two-thirds for open space and park projects. City staff are delegated to oversee the project. The Reuse Program is subject to Navy approval.

The East Bay Regional Park District will receive 2.540 acres (1028 hectares) of the Inland Area which will be developed as Concord Hills Regional Park for public use. The land is scheduled to be officially leased in early 2016, following which the land will be prepared for public access and recreation.

Superfund cleanup site

The Concord NWS was identified on 16 December 1994 as a Superfund disposal site. 32 Installation areas have been identified as contaminated with heavy metals including zinc, copper, lead, cadmium and arsenic, as well as semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOC) and organochloride pesticides. The risk to the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse and the California clapper rail is one area of great concern. Environmental remediation is underway at the base with some sites having drained soil and some being sealed to avoid pollutants from spreading.

Current operations

The operation of the platform was altered in 2008. The Inland Area became a Detachment of the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, pending closure. The Tidal Area was transferred to the U.S. Army Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC) and is now known as Military Ocean Terminal Concord (MOTCO). This building was also used by the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps Diablo Squadron and Training Ship Concord.