HomeMy WebLinkAboutSupplemental - Ed Schroeder, Received during Oral Communications To: City Council Members and Mayor
FROM: Ed Schroeder
DATE: Oct 22, 2018
RE: Munitions Operations / New Ammunition Pier, NWS
Latest draft Report for expanding munitions operations and new ammunition pier.
Munitions operations are embedded within Seal Beach, raising the following:
Safety Concerns. In 1990, the City Council voted unanimously against a $200 Million
NWS-pier expansion after a train derailed in Westminster carrying thousands of rounds
of live ammunition. (See LA Times article.) More safety issues have emerged:
Munitions operations sit on the Newport-Inglewood fault.
An earthquake could drop the NWS 3-feet instantaneously. (Nature
Journal, 3/20/17, cited by CBS News)
Munitions operations also sit in a flood plain. (OC Register 7/12/17, citing
the NWS)
Munitions operations violate the "thousands of acres" of buffer-zone
required to protect the public. (Navy 2017 Environmental Assessment,
Figure C-13)
Shoulder-held rockets and missiles make the NSW an easy target from
nearby residences, beaches and roads. (National Geographic, "Rockets
for Regular Folks" Sep 2018)
Privacy Rights Concern. Military electronic surveillance outside NWS-perimeter violates
the privacy rights of nearby residents and visitors. (CBS News, 60 Minutes, Season 48,
Epi. 54). Latest report's silence on issue is a tacit admission that phone calls, emails
and texts are being intercepted. Munitions operations are too close to residents, causing
the Navy to violate their privacy rights in order to protect the munitions.
Visual Blight. Navy proposes 2-warships 185 ft high (12 story building height) and lights
similar to the Huntington Beach power plant and Long Beach Port, based on classifying
Seal Beach as "military-industry", instead of residential "Mayberry by the Sea".
Request. Pass a resolution that: A) Requires the Navy provide details of the safety
waiver that the ammunition pier operates under; B) Opposes expanded munitions
operations and a new ammunition pier until Navy prove its operations do not endanger
Seal Beach residents; and C) Demands the Navy disclose the extent of its interception
of calls, texts and emails and resident-civilians living near the munitions operations.