# Historic fuel storage facility receives new owner

/ Published April 11, 2023
FORT BELVOIR, Va., 
After successfully resolving numerous environmental challenges, Defense Logistics Agency Energy turned the former Naval Air Station Moffett Field Defense Fuel Support Point in California over to new owners, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, in February 2023. 

As part of its mission, DLA Energy provides funding to the military services for sustainment, restoration and modernization and military construction for fuel related projects. When old fuel depots are closed, all environmental and facility closure needs must be addressed before being turned over to new owners. The Program Management Division funded a fuels facilities assessment at the air station to evaluate the condition of all DLA capitalized fuel facilities for physical and environmental compliance and to determine any near or long-term improvements that were required.

“This is a good news story,” said Navy Capt. Timothy  Bellott, the director of DLA Energy Facility Sustainment Directorate.   “The obstacles and delays we overcame were impressive.

From working with multiple federal, state, and local stakeholders to federally protected owls and removing lead-based paint and asbestos, this was a challenging project.”

The historical naval air station, built in 1951, was once home to Navy dirigibles, jet fighters and anti-submarine warfare aircraft.  The installation was closed as part of the Base Realignment and Closure program in 1994 and the Navy transferred Moffett Field to the NASA Ames Research Center and DLA.

DLA and NASA signed a host-tenant real-estate agreement in 1996 to operate and maintain the bulk fuel facility. The fuel facility ceased operation in December 2003 and a new contractor-owned/contractor-operated facility was constructed by NASA to take over the fuel facility mission. In 2005, DLA cleaned and secured the GOCO facility.

The NASA Ames Research Center leased the 1,000-acre Moffett Federal Airfield to a Google subsidiary Google Planetary Ventures in 2015. An environmental assessment was completed in 2016 to identify the potential environmental impacts resulting from the closure of the former DFSP, including removal of underground storage tanks and associated pipelines and equipment. To fully close the DFSP Moffett Field facility, DLA Energy had to remove all the capitalized fuel storage and infrastructure over a three-step process.

“This was an ambitious undertaking since it meant removing  high-speed aircraft refueling hydrants, a truck loading rack and 15,000 feet of distribution pipelines,” Bellott said. “The DFSP had five underground storage tanks that had stored over 3.4 million gallons of aviation and other fuels. We had to remove the hazardous materials including lead-based paint coatings, carbon steel piping joints and valves containing asbestos gaskets.”

Removal of the pipelines fuel infrastructure including pumps, motors, electrical, lighting, truck rack and hydrants began in 2016.

“That’s when things became interesting,” Bellott said. “We had ground water intrusion caused by an unidentified aquifer. That what was when we had to suspend all the work and stabilize the site and demobilized equipment until stakeholders agreed on an alternative approach and how to move forward.”

Tony Rosa is the DLA Energy Environmental Protection Specialist who provides the expertise to help DLA meet the environmental requirements set forth by the federal, state, local and city partners. He maintains close coordination, compliance, and communication, with the stakeholders to ensure all possible liabilities were identified.

“We had a lot of discussion and internal coordination between DLA, NASA, Google and other stakeholders to ensure all possible liabilities were identified,” Rosa said. “So many people were involved in the transfer of this legacy property and together have overcome multiple obstacles.”

To move the closure forward, DLA Energy funded a third-party hydro geologic study to investigate dewatering the site and obtained discharge permits from the City of Sunnyvale and NASA to install eight dewatering wells at 42 feet below ground surface that directed the discharge to two settling tanks.

                Historic fuel storage facility receives new owner                            The former Naval Air Station Moffett Field Defense Fuel Support Point is home to the largest concentration of the Western Burrowing Owl in the San Francisco South Bay area. As part of the successful environmental repurposing of land, Defense Logistics Agency Energy created three new Western Burrowing Owl habitat areas in accordance with the NASA Natural Resources Management Plan. Picture courtesy of DLA Energy Facility Sustainment Directorate.            SHARE IMAGE:Download ImageImage DetailsPhoto By: Picture courtesy of DLA Energy Facility Sustainment DirectorateVIRIN: 230411-D-D0441-901

It wasn’t just excess water that complicated DLA’s efforts of repurposing of land. Moffett field was home to the largest concentration of the Western Burrowing Owl in the San Francisco South Bay area. The small wingless burrowing owls live in open dry grasslands and nest underground in vacant ground squirrel burrows.

“Under direction from the NASA Natural Resources Management Plan, DLA created three new Western Burrowing Owl habitat areas for every area disturbed,” Rosa said. “We installed six artificial owl burrows as mitigation measures that Google plans to retain.”

The successful environmental repurposing of land that was once a naval air station and fuel depot is an accomplishment of DLA Energy.  DLA provided $14.1 million in demolition funding as well as the technical expertise to meet environmental requirements and compliance set forth by federal, state, local and city agencies to ensure all liabilities are identified.

“Because of team efficiency and good decisions, a total of $1.5 million was saved on the project,” Rosa said.

Meanwhile, the airport remains open and is home to NASA, law enforcement, the National Guard, and Lockheed Martin Space Systems. It is also the landing site of Air Force One during Presidential visits.