From Military Poisons
By Pat Elder
Student residences at CSUMB are situated above portions of the former Fort Ord, where chlorinated solvent plumes remain in the subsurface and questions have been raised about potential vapor intrusion into occupied buildings.
This report examines the environmental conditions surrounding one former California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) student, who was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoblastic leukemia after attending the university.
To protect the privacy of the student and his family, we use the pseudonym “Caleb” throughout this report.
Caleb has been battling T-cell lymphoblastic leukemia. During his first year at California State University, Monterey Bay, he lived in one of the former Fort Ord brick barracks near the Student Union. As a transfer student, he attended CSUMB for two years. During his second year, he moved into Promontory Housing on 8th Street near Imjin Parkway.
Caleb was physically active and played intramural sports on the recreation sports field behind the promontory building, north of North Quad past 5th Ave. Because he both lived and recreated in these locations, understanding the environmental conditions in these areas is essential to evaluating the range of potential chemical exposures he may have experienced.
We know that Trichloroethylene, (TCE), Tetrachloroethylene, (PCE), and Vinyl Chloride (VC) levels in groundwater A-aquifer and Upper 180-foot were above criteria in 2014 and remain prevalent in 4th quarter 2025 in the area that includes the Promontory Housing where Caleb lived for 2 years. Tables 1A and 1B from document OU2-752 Fourth Quarter 2025 Groundwater Monitoring and Treatment System Report summarizes the current levels of PCE, TCE and VC in the two groundwater aquifers underlying Promontory Housing.
Continue reading “– Leukemia case reported at California State University, Monterey Bay; student lived in former Fort Ord barracks”
