Established on May 18, 1942, in Port Hueneme, California, the installation became the principal West Coast home of the Navy Seabees, serving as a training, staging, logistics, and mobilization center for construction units deploying across the Pacific through World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War, and more recent operations. In 2000, NCBC Port Hueneme merged with Naval Air Station Point Mugu to form Naval Base Ventura County. Thousands of personnel trained in carpentry, electrical work, plumbing, welding, heavy equipment operation, and engineering, supported by warehouses, vehicle repair shops, machine shops, fuel storage areas, and barracks built largely between the 1940s and 1970s.
Protecting fuel storage areas, maintenance facilities, and heavy equipment yards at a major Seabee installation required NCBC Port Hueneme to maintain dedicated fire protection personnel throughout its operational history. As the base became part of Naval Base Ventura County, Navy firefighting organizations there continued to maintain aircraft crash rescue and fuel-fire response capabilities requiring specialized, ongoing training.
What made this exposure different from a single incident was its regularity. A crew wouldn't just handle AFFF once, they'd load it into trucks at the start of a shift, use it to knock down a training fire, then spend the rest of the day around the same equipment doing upkeep and prep for the next crew's exercise. Over a full career, that pattern could repeat hundreds of times.
Navy firefighters and Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting personnel were most exposed, joined by fire instructors, firefighter trainees, civilian firefighters assigned to the base, and the staff who maintained firefighting vehicles and foam systems.
Kidney cancer and testicular cancer have all been associated with PFAS chemicals found in AFFF, particularly among firefighters with this kind of repeated occupational contact. If you trained or served as a firefighter at NCBC Port Hueneme or Naval Base Ventura County and were later diagnosed with one of these cancers, our team can help you find out whether you're eligible to file.
During World War II and throughout the Cold War, asbestos was built into military construction across the country for its heat resistance, durability, and insulating value, and NCBC Port Hueneme's classrooms, barracks, warehouses, and industrial buildings were no exception. Materials commonly used during this period included:
- pipe insulation
- boiler insulation
- steam distribution systems
- HVAC insulation
- fireproof wallboard
- roofing materials
- vinyl floor tile and adhesive
- ceiling tile
- gasket
- packing material
Given the base's construction training mission, a wide range of trades faced elevated exposure risk, including:
- Navy Seabee
- construction mechanic
- builder
- steelworker
- pipefitter
- electrician
- HVAC technician
- boiler technician
- equipment mechanic
- civil engineer
NCBC Port Hueneme operated continuously from 1942 to 2000 as one of the Navy's principal construction and engineering installations, and Seabees and civilian maintenance personnel repairing or renovating its aging buildings likely faced the greatest occupational exposure of anyone on base. Mesothelioma and lung cancer are the two conditions most closely tied to asbestos exposure, both known for taking 20 to 50 years to surface after fibers are first inhaled. If you performed construction or maintenance work at Naval Construction Battalion Center Port Hueneme and have since been diagnosed with either condition, contact our team to find out whether you're eligible to file a claim.