SEAL BEACH : Panel Will Monitor Weapons Base Status

Council members are forming the city’s first-ever Base Closure Committee to keep a close eye on the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station.

Although weapons station officials say there is no imminent threat of closure, Mayor George Brown says there is a very real threat of development on the environmentally sensitive land now occupied by the Navy, should the 5,000-acre weapons station close.

“Part of this is a wildlife sanctuary and it’s supposed to be protected, but when the developers come along you just never know,” Brown said. “They would just have a field day trying to develop that.”

A new list of military bases targeted for closure or modification from the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission is not expected until January. But two years ago, when the last list was issued, Brown said the weapons station was targeted for realignment.

The weapons station’s current work force of more than 700 military and civilian employees will shrink to about 600 on Nov. 18 because of defense cuts.

“We always go on the list,” said weapons station spokesman Joe Davidson. “But the weapons station has never been considered for closure because of our mission here.”

The Seal Beach base supplies the Navy’s Pacific fleet with weapons.

But Councilman Frank Laszlo says there has been talk of closing one of the Navy’s five weapons stations in California.

“I’ve heard conflicting reports as to the potential of the (Seal Beach) weapons station closing,” Laszlo said. “If any are closed, it will be either Concord or Seal Beach. There’s always the potential of base closure.”

The city’s seven-member ad hoc committee, to include council members and two community representatives, also will monitor the Los Alamitos Armed Forces Reserve Center and the Long Beach Naval Shipyard.