Naval Station (NS) Long Beach
In 1991, as a result of BRAC, the Navy announced that it was reassigning 38 ships and 17,000
Navy personnel based in Long Beach to other west coast homeports. This occurred during a period when McDonnell Douglas Corporation, the city's largest private employer, had laid off thousands of workers at its Long Beach aircraft manufacturing facility.
Long Beach Naval Complex (LBNC) included Naval Shipyard (NSY) Long
Beach and its four associated housing areas (Los Alamitos, Palos Verdes, San
Pedro, and Whites Point), Naval Station (NS) Long Beach and its two
associated housing areas (Savannah/Cabrillo and Taper Avenue), and Hospital
(NAVHOSP) Long Beach.
NS and NSY are located on the south side of Terminal Island within the
boundaries of the cities of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The NAVHOSP is
located in the northeast corner of the City of Long Beach. Palos Verdes, San
Pedro, and Taper Avenue housing areas are located in southwestern Los
Angeles County within the community of San Pedro in the City of Los
Angeles. Whites Point housing is located south of San Pedro and Taper
Avenue housing within the community of San Pedro in the City of Los
Angeles. Los Alamitos housing is located east of Orange County in the City
of Los Alamitos, and Savannah/Cabrillo housing is located in the northeast
corner of the City of Long Beach. LBNC has been an industrial facility for
over fifty years.
The NAVHOSP, and NS and its associated housing were identified for
closure in BRAC II. The NSY and its Associated Housing were identified for
closure in BRAC IV. The NS and its housing areas were closed 30 September
1994. NAVHOSP activities ceased 31 December 1993 and was officially
closed 31 March 1994. NS is now in caretaker status. The NAVHOSP was
transferred to the City Of Long Beach in May 97. The NSY and its housing
was transferred September 97. The Shipyard closing came on top of an estimated 17,000 jobs lost in 1991 due to the reassignment of 38 ships based in Long Beach to other west coast home ports.
By early July 1994 a construction project to benefit navigational safety for the US Navy and improve the environment of the city of Imperial Beach was completed. About 233,000 cubic yards of sand were dredged at Naval Station, San Diego from 30 feet to 37 feet. The dredged sand was placed about 600 feet off the coast of Imperial Beach. The dredging improved US Navy ships' traversing Pier 2 and increased the width of beaches in Imperial
Beach and beaches further north on the Silver Strand. The Navy awarded a $1.1 million contract 01 April 1994 to Great Lakes Dredging of Oakbrook IL. Great Lakes Dredging began work on the project on 19 May 1994.
The Chinese state-run China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) shipping firm, a tenant at the Port of Long Beach since 1981, had been negotiating with the Port for additional terminal space for the past few years. The expansion of Pacific Rim trade and the deep-water and rail infrastructure in the Long Beach-Los Angeles area has resulted in a substantial increase in volume. The Port of Long Beach planned to build and to lease to COSCO a $200 million container terminal on 145 acres of former Navy property, using a 10-year lease with additional five-year options. Annual lease payments, estimated at between $13-15 million, or about $100,000 per acre would be consistent with rates paid by other Port tenants. However, on April 21, 1997, the Long Beach Harbor Commission voted to cancel the lease with COSCO.
Sources and Methods
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/fac/port/long_beach.htm
Maintained by Robert Sherman
Originally created by John Pike
Updated Sunday, December 06, 1998 5:59:17 AM