Navy Gets Approval to Replace Old Fuel Tanks at Point Loma

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published September 7, 2007 at 7:46 AM PDT

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

A plan to replace old fuel storage tanks at the Point Loma Naval Base was approved by a state agency today. The project includes permanently removing underground tanks that have been leaking fuel. KPB

A plan to replace old fuel storage tanks at the Point Loma Naval Base was approved by a state agency today. The project includes permanently removing underground tanks that have been leaking fuel. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has more.

The California Coastal Commission approved the Navy's five-year plan to replace 54-year-old storage tanks with larger above-ground tanks. The underground tanks from the 1930s have leaked fuel into the ground.

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Patti Adams has lived in the nearby La Playa neighborhood for the past 15 years. She says construction of the new tank farm will be disruptive to the neighborhood in the short term. But Adams says getting rid of the old tanks is more important in the long run.

Adams : There's a bit of emission smell down there sometimes now and that's going to be significantly lessened. So long-term it's going to be a benefit to the environment and a benefit to the residents.

The Navy has been working to recover the leaked fuel and remove the contaminated soil. Base Commander Captain Mark Patton says construction will start next year on the new tanks. He says the $140 million project is the ultimate fix to the fuel leaks at Point Loma.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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