A 40-some-year North Highlands resident, Glenn Jorgenson says he’s always thought of McClellan as his home. He was stationed on the former Air Force base in the mid 1960s; lived in base housing and worked in Building 7. He left McClellan to serve in Turkey for and then returned to North Highlands as a civilian to work and raise a family.

“I’ve always had a personal interest in what goes on at McClellan,” Jorgenson said. “I’ve always thought of it as my home.”

In fact, two years ago, when he started working for First Data Corp., a McClellan Business Park tenant on the west side of the base, he said it felt like coming home.

Now Jorgenson is helping to advise the Air Force on the cleanup of “his home.” Jorgenson is the newest community member of the McClellan Restoration Advisory Board (RAB). The RAB includes representatives from the local community, the Air Force and regulatory agencies. Through quarterly meetings, RAB members advise the Air Force and regulatory agencies about community concerns and provide community feedback on McClellan cleanup documents.

Jorgenson said he knew there was environmental contamination on the base. “It’s what one would expect given what all went on out here,” he said. But he hadn’t thought about the cleanup until he saw an article in the May issue of North Sac News about RAB member Paul Plummer. “I read it and thought that’s very interesting. I need to get involved in that,” he recalled thinking.

That day he sent an email to the Air Force asking for more information.

“I was devastated when I heard that the base would close,” Jorgenson said. “I thought North Highlands would shrivel up and blow away, but that hasn’t happened. The County and McClellan Business Park have done an incredible job in redevelopment.”

Jorgenson he is fascinated by the variety of activities -- from residences and hotels to office and warehouse business and environmental cleanup -- at McClellan. “It’s like a complex organism,” he said.

“To be involved in the environmental concerns and restoration just fits me and my interest and it has enabled me to become a part of McClellan again,” he added.

Jorgenson hopes to bring another voice the RAB, to the Air Force and to and for the community. “I’ve been told I have a unique point of view, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

I hope that I can ask a lot of questions. I’m good at asking questions and I like doing research and studying things,” he continued.

Jorgenson has jumped right into the learning and questioning at McClellan. Through asking lots of questions, studying documents, and attending RAB trainings and tours he has quickly brought himself up to speed on the basics of the environmental cleanup program.

“I’ve been very impressed with the Air Force’s commitment to make sure everything is cleaned up and done property. I’m very impressed with the detail and the amount of testing and investigation that goes into it (the cleanup process). It’s not a simple dig it up and get it out operation,” Jorgenson said.

For more information about the RAB or the cleanup program at McClellan, contact Mary Hall at 916-643-1250, ext 232, or email at mary.hall@ch2m.com.

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Glenn Jorgenson, McClellan’s newest RAB member, looks through cleanup documents at McClellan.