Weapons and Wildlife

As flocks of white-and-gray speckled Canada geese circle against a pale pink sun and the evaporating morning mist, only the silhouette of a 4,000-ton guided missile frigate hints at the activities at this wildlife refuge, which does double duty as the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station.

The base performs a critical logistic function for the Navy: More than 500 military and civilian employees work here, servicing an average of 120 weapons ships a year, base spokesman Gregg Smith said.

Dedicated in November 1944, the base was constructed after a scramble to complete a weapons station at a strategic location for the fleet in Southern California during World War II. Since its commissioning, the base has serviced ships for most U.S. military engagements.

It also played a historic role in the Cold War space race: In the late ‘60s, the base was home to the Apollo space program.

Rockwell crews worked on the clandestine project against the clock--and the Russians--to manufacture the boosters that blasted the first manned rocket to the moon in 1969.

Thirty years later, the tall, barn-like buildings that housed the Saturn V boosters have more mundane uses, and current occupants have less lofty ambitions than did Neil Armstrong. An owl looks content merely sitting in the old rocket shop.

The space race has also left its mark under these buildings. Toxic waste from chemicals once used to clean the rocket boosters has contaminated the ground.

Although officials say the plume has been contained, and appears to pose no danger to drinking water or wildlife, a close eye is kept on the waste.

“It’s going to take 20 years to clean up but . . . we don’t see any problems for the wildlife,” Smith said.

A 1998 study by the Santa Ana Regional Water Control Board concluded the underground plume had little negative impact upon the area. But Randy Seton, a program director at Orange County CoastKeeper, an environmental organization, warned that dredging, urban runoff or development in that area could reveal problems.

“It costs lots of money to remove [the plume] properly,” Seton said. “As long as it doesn’t get stirred up it’s not too bad.”

Almost 1,000 acres of the 5,200-acre property are dedicated to colorful species such as the snowy egret and the great blue heron. Some birds make the base a winter stopover en route to southern destinations. Others nest in the colorful salt marsh vegetation and abandoned military installations.

“What makes it the Ritz hotel for these birds is the vegetation,” said John Bradley, a refuge manager for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which maintains an office at the base. Bradley conducts weekend tours for the public as part of an outreach effort.

“We’re trying to open it to the community,” Smith said. “The wildlife is not only a Navy asset.”

Tours of the wildlife refuge are conducted the last Saturday of each month. No reservations are necessary. The public meets at the main gate at 800 Seal Beach Blvd. Information: (562) 626-7215.