clinic – Alameda Point Environmental Report

Two possibilities for Alameda Point VA property following veterans project cancellation

Alameda could find itself back at square one, or at least close to it.

In September 2025, Representative Lateefah Simon informed city officials that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) had decided to cancel plans for a clinic and columbarium cemetery at Alameda Point. The news became public when a letter to the VA from Congresswomen Lateefah Simon and Nancy Pelosi and Senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla was released on December 12, 2025.

The congressional delegation urged the VA to reconsider its decision to terminate the project. On December 15, 2025, public officials and representatives of veterans organizations made a similar plea on the steps of Alameda’s Veterans Memorial Building.

If the VA sticks to its decision to terminate the project, it is unclear what will happen next. But two land-disposal processes are on the table.

The delegation’s letter to the VA questioned why the agency plans to turn over the land to the federal General Services Administration (GSA), which handles disposing of real estate. The congressional delegation pointed out that the land could go back to the Navy, according to the VA/Navy land transfer agreement. The letter explained that the “VA and the Navy have a binding agreement that requires VA to notify the Navy of its decision to terminate the project within 30 days of its determination, and permits the Navy to receive the property if VA makes such a decision within fifteen years of this 2014 agreement.”

This means either the GSA or the Navy will dispose of the federal land. History and current events will likely play a role in both scenarios.

Earthquake prediction raises questions about VA clinic location

A new warning about the heightened risk of liquefaction in Alameda during the next big earthquake should catch the attention of leaders at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). They plan on building its VA medical clinic and veteran benefits administrative facility on an artificially constructed hill out on the old airfield in the middle of an earthquake liquefaction zone.

The director of the Earthquake Science Center for the US Geological Survey, Christine Goulet, recently singled out the City of Alameda for being at risk of major damage from an earthquake along the Hayward Fault, according to an April 17 story in the Mercury News ominously titled, “’A house of cards’: When the Big One comes, will Alameda be ready?”

Changing stories, ballooning costs cloud VA project at Alameda Point

Every couple years there is a new story from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on why there are delays in building the veterans facilities at Alameda Point. Meanwhile, the costs have skyrocketed from $208 million to $395 million.

Two new stories emerged this summer, just as the VA is requesting another $128 million in the 2023 federal budget for the Alameda Point project.

Mismanaged VA project stumbles along, officials remain silent

The Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) healthcare facility and cemetery project at Alameda Point still has not broken ground, a decade after the first round of Congressional funding. Public officials appear to look away.

The latest setback comes with the VA having to re-do the contract for constructing the wetland mitigation plan. For unknown reasons, in November 2020, less than four months after the VA hired a company to perform the wetland work for $2.37 million, that company is out of the picture. The VA is now trying to find other companies with the same engineering skillset. The actual competitive bidding process will follow. The VA estimates the wetland project could now cost between $5 million and $10 million. Continue reading “Mismanaged VA project stumbles along, officials remain silent”

Wetland contract awarded for Alameda Point

On August 7, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded a services contract to Adanta, Inc. of Napa to expand and enhance an existing wetland on the Veterans Affairs (VA) property at Alameda Point. The wetland project is being implemented to offset impacts to wetland areas elsewhere on the VA property where a health clinic, offices and a columbarium cemetery will be built.

“The four-year services contract, valued at up to $2,373,044, includes development, seed collection, propagation, restoration, and enhancement to ensure the wetland is completely established as a self-sustaining tidal marsh at the VA Alameda Point site,” states the Corps of Engineers August 14 news release. “In total, 8 acres of new tidal marsh will be installed and established, as will 3.3 acres of tidal transitional habitat; and 14.8 acres of existing tidal wetland will be enhanced.” Seed collection and preparation is scheduled to start this summer. The work is expected to be completed in 2025.

One-third of the wetland impacts of the VA project will not be offset at Alameda Point. The Corps of Engineers will purchase credits in the San Francisco Bay Wetland Mitigation Bank for 3.6 acres of impacts. The mitigation bank manages a wetland restoration project in Redwood City funded by Bay Area projects that impact wetlands. The credit purchase detail is not mentioned in the news release. Continue reading “Wetland contract awarded for Alameda Point”

Delays of VA Project tied to Trump Administration

Observations by former Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) David Shulkin may shed light on why the VA Project at Alameda Point continues to be delayed and why the health clinic may never be built. Constructing a new clinic conflicts with the Trump Administration’s goal of privatizing VA healthcare services.

In his book “It Shouldn’t Be This Hard to Serve Your Country – Our Broken Government and the Plight of Veterans” (Public Affairs Books, October 2019), Shulkin recounts his experiences after being appointed to head the VA by President Trump in January 2017, and then fired by Tweet 15 months later. Shulkin asserts he was fired because he would not go along with efforts of White House insiders to privatize VA healthcare. Continue reading “Delays of VA Project tied to Trump Administration”

Unexpected Environmental Review of VA Project

The City of Alameda announced on February 22 that it will be preparing an environmental impact report (EIR) on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) project for a health clinic and columbarium cemetery at Alameda Point. The VA completed its environmental review for the project in 2013. The deadline for commenting on what the city should evaluate is March 22.

The belated environmental review was triggered by California regulations requiring a state EIR in order for the Regional Water Quality Control Board to approve the VA’s wetland mitigation plan.

An EIR is also required for City of Alameda approvals. “Although construction of federal facilities by federal agencies is typically exempt from local land use regulations and review,” said city planner Andrew Thomas, “in this case, the VA plans to construct an access utility/road on approximately 6-acres of city land to the east of the VA Transfer Parcel and two new storm drains across city-owned land to the north of the VA property, which will require approval of easements from the city, which are discretionary actions subject to CEQA [California Environmental Quality Act].”

Revisiting the project’s environmental impacts six years after the VA completed its review presents an opportunity to evaluate the potential environmental benefits of locating the medical clinic and benefits offices in the business “Enterprise District” rather than in the open space on the former airfield. Continue reading “Unexpected Environmental Review of VA Project”