Tag Archives: Travis Air Force Base

Benicia CA, Clean Water Action, EPA, Travis Air Force Base, Valero Benicia Refinery

Travis Air Force Base ordered to address dishonorable discharges

[BenIndy Contributor Nathalie Christian – Here’s more on the latest EPA action in Solano County, this time at Travis Air Force Base. Travis AFB’s 6,368-acre site is located in Fairfield, California. Cheeky headlines aside, jet fuel spilling into creeks and contaminating groundwater is no joke. These spills represent a tremendous danger most immediately to Union Creek’s delicate ecosystem and could create public health impacts down the road. – N.C.]

EPA Orders U.S. Air Force to Address Oil Discharge at Travis Air Force Base

May 4, 2023

Contact Information: John Senn (senn.john@epa.gov)

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today issued an emergency order to the U.S. Air Force to enhance and expedite measures to address an ongoing oil discharge into Union Creek from the Travis Air Force Base (Travis AFB) in Solano County, Calif. EPA has determined that a substantial threat exists to local waterbodies and shorelines because of the ongoing discharge and previous similar incidents on Travis AFB.

“This order is critical for ensuring that the Air Force addresses the oil discharge into Union Creek in a thorough and timely manner, and that no impacts to public health occur,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. “EPA is committed to fully utilizing our authorities to make sure that the current oil discharge is stopped and similar incidents are prevented.”

The order, issued under the Clean Water Act, compels the Air Force take a series of steps to mitigate the oil discharge, including:

  • Utilizing oil spill recovery equipment and techniques to limit the spread of oil in Union Creek;
  • Investigating and mitigating the source of the oil;
  • Collecting and analyzing water and sediment samples in Union Creek; and
  • Implementing actions to prevent oil from entering the storm drain and creek.

The order also requires the Air Force to enter into a unified command structure that brings together the oil spill response expertise of federal, state and local governments to address the discharge. Agencies actively engaged in the response include EPA, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response, and Solano County.

Oil discharges to Union Creek from Travis AFB were first identified by the Air Force as early as October 2021, but were not reported to EPA or the National Response Center until February 4, 2022. Since that time, the Air Force has made numerous notifications to the National Response Center regarding an oil sheen on Union Creek, including reporting a spill of jet fuel from a pipeline on the base on August 4, 2022. These spill notifications have continued to occur in 2023. EPA analyses of samples collected from the pipeline spill area and from the sheen on Union Creek indicate the contamination at both areas are likely from a common source. On December 21, 2022, the San Francisco Bay Water Quality Control Board sent the Air Force a notice of noncompliance for discharges of jet fuel to Union Creek.

The Air Force has yet to take action to identify and address the source of the oil discharge to Union Creek. The initial oil spill response efforts implemented by the Air Force at Travis AFB were limited, and these efforts were only upgraded after input from EPA and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Office of Spill Prevention and Response.

Learn more about EPA’s work at Travis Air Force Base.

Learn more about EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region. Connect with us on Facebook and on Twitter.

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Solano County CA, Travis Air Force Base

Travis airman’s adult dependent, two others test positive for novel coronavirus

The Reporter, Vacaville CA, March 16, 2020

Latest cases through ‘community spread’ reported Monday raise to nine the number of Solano residents who have tested positive amid the pandemic

A Travis Air Force Base C-17 Globemaster soars into the air over the flight line at Travis Air Force Base. An airman and an adult dependent who, while living off base, have tested positive for the novel coronavirus and, in accordance with Department Of Defense directives and public health requirements, are quarantined at their residence. (Joel Rosenbaum — Reporter File Photo)

The worrisome tally keeps rising.

The number of Solano County residents who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus rose from six to nine Monday, with local public health officials confirming that an adult-dependent of a service member at Travis Air Force Base and two others had fallen victim to “community spread.”

The Air Force member “is in isolation at their respective off-base residence,” Public Health Administrator Jayleen Richards, of the county’s Health and Social Services Department, noted in a press release. Solano County spokesman Matthew Davis reported the news about the two others but provided no additional information at press time Monday.

Also, a Contra Costa County resident who is an active-duty Travis airman also tested positive for coronavirus disease, COVID-19, and is, likewise, in isolation at their respective off-base residence, information confirmed by Col. Jeffrey Nelson, 60th Air Mobility Wing commander at the sprawling base south of Vacaville. (That case is not part of the county number.)

United States Air Force Col. Jeffrey W. Nelson, Commander, 60th Air Mobility Wing, Travis Air Force Base

Solano public health leaders are coordinating closely with Travis officials to provide important care to those who have tested positive, Richards added. The military and county agencies will continue to work together “to mitigate the effects of the virus and provide pertinent updates as timely as possible,” she wrote in the prepared statement.

In his prepared statement, Nelson explained that public health officials have begun “the contact tracing process” to notify those who may have come into contact with the positive individuals.

Master Sgt. Amanda Currier, a Travis spokeswoman at the base public affairs office, said the affected individuals would remain in isolation for 14 days, in accord with public health guidelines.

She provided no additional details about the affected individuals, such as age, gender or rank, noting current privacy regulations from the Secretary of the Air Force and the Department of Defense.

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Travis Air Force Base

First person account of troubled quarantine at Travis Air Force Base

Two Crockett residents were on the cruise ship, now quarantined at Travis, can’t get tested

Here is a first-person account of bureaucratic delays and health care failures from Salli Spoon, who is quarantined at Travis AFB and wrote to Donald Zampa:

SALLI SPOON of Crocket CA, now at Travis AFB:

“I and my fellow quarantined passengers need your help.

All of us have been exposed to coronavirus. We are in federal custody at the Travis Air Force base. We have yet to be tested for coronavirus. We were first told we would be tested before we disembarked. We were not. Then we were told we would be tested upon our arrival at Travis. We were not tested. Yesterday morning I asked when we would be tested. I was told that we would be tested only if we requested testing. I requested testing. Yesterday evening, I asked when I would be tested, per my request. I was told I would be assigned a “case worker” in two or three days. This person would answer all my questions.

In the meantime, a Canadian from the Grand Princess was tested when this person arrived in Toronto. This person tested positive.

Our population at Travis is older and, many, have underlying health issues. Testing would let us know if there are any active cases and would establish a baseline to work from. This would let the government know that when they release us that we would not be carrying the virus into the general population.

Please, wherever you live, call you Senators and congresspeople let them know what is going on here. Please ask them to put pressure on get more testing kits;

Thank you for your help.”

[Mr. Zampa has sent this to Congressman Mike Thompson]

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Solano County CA, Travis Air Force Base

Coronavirus news from Travis Air Force Base

UPDATE: See VIDEO: Quarantined Passengers Critical of Travis Air Force Base ‘Camp Corona’ and First person account of troubled quarantine at Travis Air Force Base

Travis upgrades health protocols amid Covid-19 spread off base

The Fairfield Daily Republic, By Glen Faison

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE — The base implemented an enhanced health alert Wednesday as a result of the new coronavirus situation in communities outside the base and said there were no confirmed cases on base.

The move by Travis officials to implement what they call Health Protection Condition Bravo follows a public health emergency declaration Feb. 27 at the base. Solano County declared a public health emergency the previous day.

“This is a moderate health alert in response to public health risks in the local community,” Tonya A. Racasner, 60th Air Mobility Wing deputy chief of public affairs, said in a prepared statement. “The decision to elevate the HPCON is independent of quarantine operations currently taking place on Travis (Air Force Base), and directly correlates to the evolving situation in the local area.”

Racasner in the statement Wednesday said the base’s action was also taken in response to “the sustained transmission of coronavirus (Covid-19) in the surrounding community.”

The move comes two weeks after a Vacaville women became the first patient-to-patient or community-spread case of Covid-19 in the country that was not attributable to travel or close exposure to someone with the disease.

She arrived Feb. 15 at NorthBay VacaValley Hospital in Vacaville with flu-like symptoms and was transferred Feb. 19 to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento once her condition worsened. She was tested Feb. 23 for the new coronavirus, which causes Covid-19. Test results came back positive Feb. 26.

Testing protocols at the time from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention limited who and under what conditions people could be tested for the novel coronavirus. Only a limited number of test kits were available in California at the time. The CDC has since loosened its protocols for testing and additional test kits have arrived in the state.

Travis has served as a quarantine site for several waves of U.S. residents who repatriated to the U.S. from China and Japan. Hundreds of passengers – all California residents – from the Grand Princess cruise ship have arrived this week to begin 14 days in quarantine at the Westwind Inn.

The California Office of Emergency Services announced Wednesday that up to 120 California passengers from the cruise ship will be housed at a vacant hotel in San Carlos because they are exhibiting mild symptoms that may be from the new coronavirus but do not require hospitalization. Another 24 passengers were previously sent to Asilomar State Beach and Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove, also because they were not free of symptoms.

None of those passengers have tested positive for Covid-19, Cal OES reports, but because they are symptomatic they cannot serve their 14-day quarantine at Travis Air Force Base.

A total of 149 passengers from the Grand Princess were transported Monday from the cruise ship to Travis for quarantine, Cal OES reports. Another 613 passengers arrived Tuesday at Travis for quarantine.

Racasner said in the statement Wednesday that base officials were monitoring the situation as it relates to the new coronavirus and are “closely engaged” with Solano County Public Health and CDC officials.

Practical implications of the escalation to HPCON Bravo at the base include direction for those on the base to practice social distancing and refrain from physical contact such as shaking hands, fist bumps and similar activities; and cancellation of all gatherings of 100 or more people through April 30 unless they are mission-essential as directed by a unit commander.

“While this measure may seem drastic, it will help to mitigate potential community spreading on base,” Racasner said in the statement.

Military and civilian personnel and dependents on the base are being asked to continue standard anti-virus activities such as washing hands with liquid soap and water and rubbing them for at least 20 seconds; wiping common-use items with disinfectant; covering their mouth and nose with a tissue or their sleeve (not their hands) when coughing or sneezing; staying home if they are sick; and getting a flu shot to protect themselves and others from flu, which has similar symptoms to Covid-19.

On-base child care facilities remain open, Racasner said in the statement. Officials with the Travis School District will make decisions about school operations independent of the base’s actions.

Anyone who develops flu-like symptoms with fever and cough or shortness of breath and may have had contact with a person who has Covid-19 or had recent travel to countries considered high-risk are asked to contact their health care provider before seeking medical care to prevent possible transmission in the health care setting.

People who are normally seen at David Grant Medical Center are asked to first call the TRICARE nurse advice line at 1-800-874-2273 or the David Grant Medical Center appointment line at 707-423-3000 prior to coming to the hospital.

“This is an emerging, rapidly evolving situation,” Racasner said in the statement. “We will continue to partner with local agencies to ensure the safety and welfare of our force and families.”

More information