UXO Site selected: Camp Coxcomb, CA |
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General Area: Freda, CA Site Type/Program: FUDS Location: The former Camp Coxcomb is generally located along the west side of California Highway 177, 24 miles southwest of Freda, California. The Colorado River Aqueduct passes through a portion of the site. Approximately 8,563 acres of the site is currently owned by the U.S. Department of Interior and is under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Approximately 2,957 acres of the site is owned by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and various private parties. In addition, historical records indicate that approximately 50 mining claims have been located on the Camp Coxcomb site. It is not known how many are still valid. Current law requires a record maintenance fee be paid by claim-holders and many of theses claims may have lapsed. Brief History: In March 1942, the War Department tasked General George S. Patton, Jr., to find a desert training site that met all the criteria of North Africa. The Desert Training Center (DTC), also called the California-Arizona Maneuver Area (CAMA), resulted from General Patton=s reconnoitering. The former training area encompasses approximately 11 million acres within three states. Camp Coxcomb was one of ten major camps in this vast training area. The U.S. Government, through the War Department, used an implied transfer of property from the Department of Interior and acquired revocable permits from the State of California. After acquiring the aforementioned property, construction began on Camp Coxcomb in the fall of 1942. The camp was finally completed in the spring 1943. The purpose of this camp, like the others in the DTC/CAMA, was to train troops, to test ammunition/weapons and supplies in a desert environment, and to make training as realistic as possible by using live ordnance. The campsite was constructed with 21 numbered streets, 1st through 21st Street, and six named perpendicular to the numbered streets. There were numerous temporary improvements to sustain a division-sized unit. In early 1944, the entire DTC/CAMA was considered surplus with a closing date in the spring of 1944. Camp Coxcomb, along with the other camps, had to push hard to meet the deadline for closure. |
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Range / Site Description: Associated Munitions: Activities Completed: A draft Archive Search Report was completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, in September 1996. Issues: The Los Angeles Corps of Engineers District issued a Certificate of Clearance for the area on 8 June 1949 with a surface use only recommendation. The ASR conducted in 1996 revealed an
additional 3,076 acres which were clearly used during the WWII-era
activity but which were not addressed in the certificate of clearance from 1949. Although
these areas were supposed to have been dedudded, much ordnance
debris still exists. The ASR reports that the mountains and
draws are littered with pockets of ordnance-related debris. |
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