SUBASE NEW LONDON TO BE CLOSED - EB Probably not far behind.

[seadragon021]

It is possible that EB

It is possible that EB could move their design and engineering base elsewhere in the country and close the shipyard itself, but I still think that the key to our survival is (1) the fate of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and the overhaul work that we would stand to inherit and (2) whether or not the Navy wants to maintain the cooperative effort on the Virginia with EB and Newport News or go with one shipyard. The Navy has stated that they are no longer happy with the current arrangement as it is costing them too much money.

If the Navy wants us to stay in business, we will. If not, we on the waterfront will cease to exist and EB will become a fond memory like so many other shipyards over the years.

[u-5075]

The New London (and it

The New London (and it was in New London and not in Groton) Naval Underwater Sound Lab left a few years ago. Its existance was kept at a very low profile and its leaving was not very much contested. With 20-20 hindsight it probably was a sign of things to come -- or go. If you are in the SE Connecticut area, you might also want to pay this former high-security area a visit. The WWII-type buildings, where the real "action was" are gone and the olde Fort Trumbull is the main building here. It is just across the Thames River from EB.

FORT TRUMBULL'S HISTORY
By World War II Fort Trumbull had become home to the Coast Guard, the U. S. Maritime Service Officer Candidate School, and the Columbia University Division of War Research Underwater Sound Laboratory was established there.
In 1970 the Navy merged the Underwater Sound Laboratory at Fort Trumbull with the Underwater Weapons Research and Engineering Station, at Newport RI, forming the Naval Underwater Systems Center (NUSC).
In 1991 the Naval Underwater System Center in New London was renamed the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC).

STATE PARK DESCRIPTION
Fort Trumbull is not only the centerpiece of the newest state park, but also the only U.S. fort with a history stretching from the Revolution to the Cold War. The current fort, built in 1852, has served as a recruiting station during the Civil War, as the first U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1915, and as the Naval Underwater Sound Lab during World War II. After a recent $25 million restoration, you can now track the fort's evolution. Visit officers' quarters and plot Benedict Arnold's movements, listen on a sonar device like the one invented here to detect enemy subs, and even design your own fort. There is also fishing from the pier, picnicking, and splendid views from the ramparts. Visitors' center and fort open Memorial Day-Labor Day daily 9-4. $5, ages 6-17 $2, 5 and under free. Park open daily 8-sunset. Free.

[boss subfixer]

U-5075,
My wife and I visited

U-5075,
My wife and I visited there a couple of years ago and we were very impressed, a must see for history buffs. I remember being in the shipyard one day after they started cleaning the place up after the sound lab left and being amazed at seeing the fort. I had been working at E.B. for at least 15 years and never saw it before. I read in the New london Day that several people living near the fort didn't even know it was there. Anyway, Fort Trumble is a must see.

[u-5075]

MORE INFO
1. Fort Trumbull and

MORE INFO
1. Fort Trumbull and The Submarine
by John Merrill - Strong Books - 1928782035
141 pages, 2000. This discusses some of the research done at the Underwater Sound Lab. You can buy it at the USS Nautilus Museum's gift shop or get it elsewhere or
on interlibrary loan. It has some interesting older history of a place that did not exist.

2. "If it doesn't move, paint it."
A lot of painting was done of stuff at the SuBase. There is a lot of paint and organic solvent residue in the soil. Bottom paint is probably the most toxic of the paint residues with tributyl tin (TBT) probably being the most toxic. It has been more than a decade since the EPA banned tin-based paints. (But the military had been exempted from this ban.) Next most toxic are lead based paints, then copper-based and then zinc based ones. The mud ot the Thames River immediately adjacent to the base and further out will need to be sampled and tested. Organic solvents, particularly the best grease-cutting ones are terribly bad for body filtering organs (liver, spleen, kidneys). There will be a serious concern about areas of concentrations of all contaminants. Any civilians purchasing areas of contaminations will also become liable for damages to people and the environment. If Groton takes possession of the land they then will be liable. Absolutely no easy answers here.

3. A base-closing team has been selected for some time now and is now ready and waiting in the wings, so to speak. It consists of upper-level management and upper-level paper-pushing types with good track records of getting a job done.