Beacon Foundation

Concerning the July 12 story, “Navy Base Changeover Fires Up Outgoing Leader”:

I am very disturbed about comments by Capt. Phillips concerning the Beacon Foundation.

He implied that members of the Beacon Foundation were attempting to stop defense testing with resulting harm to American soldiers and sailors. This is not true. The captain was not stating facts.

He also implied that members of the Beacon Foundation were involved in the cleanup of methyl tertiary butyl at the Port Hueneme naval base, the weather tower in Ojai and the bombing of Puerto Rico. His implying that the Beacon Foundation had something to do with the bombing of Puerto Rico or the cessation of the bombing is off-base and completely false. The naval base discharged MTBE, a highly toxic gasoline additive, in 1985 and had not planned to do anything until pressured by Sen. Feinstein in August 2000. The Beacon Foundation thanked Sen. Feinstein for taking action to correct the problem. The Ventura County Board of Supervisors, by a unanimous vote, questioned the safety of the Ojai weather tower. This has not been a Beacon Foundation issue because it is outside the coastal zone.

He admits to moving ahead with the expansion of the Surface Warfare [Center] even though the California Coastal Commission ruled that a civilian expert be assigned to monitor health issues. This is true and a prime example that, in his opinion, the Navy knows best and the monitoring of health issues is secondary.

He also implied that members of the Beacon Foundation are selfish and are watching only their own backyard and ignoring what goes on around the world. This is just not true. Several members of the Beacon Foundation have devoted many years as part of the armed services and the Department of Defense. As a board member of the Beacon Foundation, I take his remarks to be a personal insult, having defended this country in time of war.

Don Dodd

Oxnard