LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District began field work Nov. 28 on the Former Camp Elliott, East Elliott military munitions response project in San Diego, to investigate for military munitions and munitions chemical constituents. The purpose of the investigation is to gather enough information to determine the extent of munitions on the site and to develop possible methods of remediating the hazard due to the munitions.
The investigation will include digital geophysical mapping of magnetic anomalies and soil sampling over accessible areas of the East Elliott project site. The survey will occur during the daylight hours, Monday through Friday, roughly 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and will involve temporarily closing some parts of the property while the work is being done. The field work is expected to conclude in mid-February.
The project area, known as East Elliott, is part of 30,500 acres acquired by the Department of Defense in 1941 and used as a U.S Marine Corps training facility from 1941 to 1944 for live-fire exercises with tank, anti-tank and artillery detachments. The area is located on the eastern edge of the city of San Diego, north of Highway 52 and west of Santee Lakes. It is one of four project areas at the former camp that are being managed under the Formerly Used Defense Sites program.
East Elliott is characterized by a series of canyons that drain southward to the San Diego River, located about a half mile to the south. The land is vegetated with native grasses, coastal sage, black sage and chaparral. East Elliott currently consists of 146 individual parcels owned by more than 42 private individuals, the cities of Santee and San Diego, two school districts, several land development companies and a public utility company. East Elliott consists mostly of undeveloped land with unrestricted access along its southern boundary, making it attractive for a variety of recreational uses, including hiking, mountain biking, jogging, motorcycling, horseback riding and off-road vehicle use. Rock climbers use several clusters of large boulders. Several dirt roads and trails are located along the ridges and canyons.
The Formerly Used Defense Sites program was created by Congress under the Defense Environmental Restoration Program to clean up environmental hazards at formerly owned, leased, possessed or used Department of Defense properties. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages the FUDS Program and the USACE Los Angeles District manages the East Elliott FUDS projects.
For additional information about this project, please contact the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District Public Affairs Office at 213-479-8698 or by email at gregory.a.fuderer@usace.army.mil.