Kobler Naval Supply Center
Background (Kobler Naval Supply Center, July 2016 - USACE)
U.S. forces invaded Saipan during World War II on June 15, 1944. The Kobler Naval Supply Center project area was acquired by the U.S. military on July 1, 1944, after U.S. forces established two beach-heads at Chalan Kanoa on the west coast of Saipan, and eventually captured the central, west coast, and northern portions of the island. With the island of Saipan secure, work on airfields and base facilities progressed at a rapid pace. Storage tanks for aviation gasoline were built at a number of locations. Operations at Kobler Naval Supply Center were apparently associated with aviation activity at the Kobler Field, located to the south.
The U.S. Navy began administration of Saipan with the establishment of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands on July 18, 1947. Administration of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands was transferred to the U.S. Department of the Interior on July 29, 1951, but was quickly transferred back to the U.S. Navy in November 1952. Nearly a decade later, on May 7, 1962, the islands reverted back to civilian control. On January 9, 1978, the Northern Mariana Islands was declared a Commonwealth of the U.S. On November 3, 1986, the Commonwealth was declared self-governing.
The Kobler Naval Supply Center project area is located at the southwestern end of Saipan in the CNMI. The project area consists of two separate but adjoining sites located to the north and south of As Perdido Road (Route 32). The first site encompasses an area of approximately 64 acres in the Fina Sisu area (north of As Perdido Road), while the second site encompasses an area of approximately 32 acres in the Chalan Piao/As Perdido area (south of As Perdido Road). The 64-acre site in the Fina Sisu area contained nine 10,000-barrel aboveground storage tanks (AST) (Tank sites 1 through 9) and was referred to as the Chalan Kanoa Tank Farm. The 32-acre site in the Chalan Piao/As Perdido area was referred to as the Old South Tank Farm and contained nine 1,000 barrel ASTs (Tank sites 10 through 18). The exact date of construction of the ASTs is unknown but they appear to have been constructed prior to a photograph taken in May 1945 (Woodward-Clyde 1999).
Both sites are located approximately 1.25 miles northwest of Saipan International Airport. The two sites comprising the project area are privately owned. The Fina Sisu site consists of several single-family residential dwellings and the remains of the defunct Chamorro Cultural Center. The Chalan Piao site consists of several single-family residential dwellings, a pig farm, a small apartment complex, and associated yard areas.
In 1949, the Fina Sisu site (Chalan Kanoa Tank Farm) consisted of nine 10,000-barrel tanks of which four were already deteriorated beyond repair and five were in limited use. Of the five tanks still in use, three were used for storage of AVGAS, while two were used for MOGAS. Both the AVGAS and MOGAS systems joined a common fuel line that was connected to a submerged sea line used for loading and off-loading bulk petroleum, oil, lubricants from offshore tankers. Only one of the five standing tanks still contained an appreciable amount of product at the time of the 1949 survey.
The Old South Tank Farm consisted of two 1,000-barrel tanks in good condition at the time of the 1949 survey. Only one of the two tanks was being used at the time. The other seven fuel tanks evident in the May 1945 and the April 1949 aerial photographs had apparently been dismantled by this time (Woodward-Clyde 1999).
The condition of the tanks as cited in the 1998 Remedial Investigation (RI) are described below:
- Tank Site 1: A few sections of the original tank were present within a well-developed earthen berm. No sections of the tank remain standing. The bottom of the tank is rusted through exposing the underlying sandy coralline fill.
- Tank Site 2: Several sections of the original tank structure were still standing and surrounded by an earthen berm. The bottom was mostly intact.
- Tank Site 3: The roof of the original tank collapsed but most sides of the original tank were still standing. The remains are surrounded by a large earthen berm. The tank bottom was still intact as were the valve components.
- Tank Site 4: The remnants of the original tank have been pushed away from the original tank pad and berm. The original berm has been graded down. Large portions of the tank bottom have rusted away, exposing the underlying sandy coralline fill.
- Tank Site 5: A large percentage of the tank structure was still standing within the original berm in 1998.
- Tank Site 6: Large sections of the tank bottom have been removed exposing the sandy coralline fill. Most of the tank debris from the debris from the berm was previously removed and placed in the surrounding area.
- Tank Site 7: The original earthen berm had been graded flat and piled up against the walls of the tank. Most of the tank remained standing, although the roof had collapsed.
- Tank Site 8: Most of the tank is still standing and the majority of the floor was intact. The roof had collapsed.
- Tank Site 9: Most of the tank is still standing and the majority of the floor was intact. The roof had collapsed.
- Tank Site 10 & 11: Little remained at these two sites.
- Tank Site 12: Small sections of the original tank walls were present but not standing at the site, but the bottom of the tank was almost completely gone.
- Tank Site 13 & 14: The original earthen berms associated with these two tanks are intact. Only minor remains of the original tank structures are present at Tank Sites 13 and 14.
- Tank Site 15: The original tank structure is located within an intact berm but has completely collapsed upon itself.
- Tank Site 16 & 17: Nothing remained of the original earthen berm. Little metallic debris from the tank structures remained on-site.
- Tank Site 18: A few sections of the original tank were present within a well-developed intact earthen berm. The tank bottom was completely gone.
Biological surveys took place on July-August 2018. Followed by the biological surveys were the archaeological surveys. Field work expected to commence early FY'19 for tank removal action.
Category: Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS)
Coordinates:
Island: Saipan
Village(s): Fina Sisu / As Perdido / Chalan Piao
Response Status:
Land Use Restrictions: Residential
Institutional Control: Undetermined
Responsible Party: U.S. Military / Army Corps of Engineers
Enforcement Authority: Division of Environmental Quality
Project Lead: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Property Status: Private Land / Public Land
Coordinates:
Island: Saipan
Village(s): Fina Sisu / As Perdido / Chalan Piao
Response Status:
Land Use Restrictions: Residential
Institutional Control: Undetermined
Responsible Party: U.S. Military / Army Corps of Engineers
Enforcement Authority: Division of Environmental Quality
Project Lead: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Property Status: Private Land / Public Land