Former Norton Air Force Base, San Bernardino, California (Closed 1994)
The Air Force's successful cleanup of environmental contamination at the former Norton Air Force Base has jumpstarted redevelopment at what's now known as San Bernardino International Airport.
Norton Today
The former Norton Air Force Base, now known as San Bernardino International Airport, has been transformed into a flourishing business complex where huge modern buildings have replaced military structures. Several thousand civilians work at the former 2,221-acre base, arriving daily for jobs in aviation, manufacturing, distribution and logistics. Read more...
Mattel opened its national distribution center and toy store on the former base in 2004.
Environmental Cleanup Update
The Air Force's successful cleanup of environmental contamination at the former Norton Air Force Base began decades ago and essentially ended last year. The Air Force initiated the Installation Restoration Program (IRP) at Norton Air Force Base in 1982, long before the base closed. During the 1980s, Air Force investigations determined where chemical waste disposal activities had occurred and where the groundwater contained detectable levels of solvents, primarily trichloroethene (TCE), which was used at Norton for cleaning aircraft parts from the 1940s through the 1980s. Read more...
The Air Force applied a protective soil cap to the former landfill, approximately 20 acres large, as part of the cleanup at the former Norton Air Force Base. Later the site was paved by the Local Redevelopment Authority for use as a parking lot.
History
The former Norton Air Force Base, located two miles east of downtown San Bernardino, CA, got its start in 1941 as a municipal airport under U.S. Army jurisdiction. Pilots trained there and, almost immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor, fighter planes were stationed there in case they might be needed to protect the Los Angeles area from enemy attack. Read more...
Norton AFB Main Gate [Photo courtesy San Bernardino History and Railroad Museum]
Norton Recent News
New Parking Lot Solar Project Completed at Former Norton Air Force Base - A $2.8 million solar project providing shaded parking while generating energy has been completed at the San Bernardino International Airport, located on the former Norton Air Force Base. The project, located across the street from the new terminal, consists of eight modular structures in the airport's parking lot, each of them covered with 336 solar panels.
A parking lot at the former Norton AFB is going solar, thanks to a $2.8 million project to shade the San Bernardino International Airport's parking lot. [Photos courtesy of Inland Valley Development Agency]
Million Air Luring General Aviation to former Norton Air Force Base - This summer, Million Air opened a new terminal at San Bernardino International Airport, bumping up the luxury quotient at the former Norton Air Force Base. The company provides executive services in deluxe surroundings for private jet owners while their aircraft are being refueled. The Air Force Real Property Agency managed the environmental cleanup and property transfer at the former Norton AFB, completing whole-base transfer to the community in 2007.
The San Bernardino Mountains form a scenic backdrop to the new Million Air Terminal at the former Norton AFB, now called the San Bernardino International Airport. [Photo by Scott Johnston]
In the massive headquarters lobby are two displays: one about the history of Stater Brothers markets and another devoted to Capt. Leland Norton. A museum curator designed the exhibit, in which Norton's captain's bars, medals, letters, his Bible, photographs, and other artifacts. The lobby also houses the flag pole once used at Norton AFB.
Air Force, community reps plant trees across America - In recognition of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, Air Force Real Property Agency officials enlisted the participation of people in 40 communities to plant a tree at one of 40 former and active Air Force bases, from Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii to the former Loring AFB in Maine, as well as the Pentagon.
SBIA officials and tenants join Norton Veterans to plant an Earth Day tree on the former base.
Green Businesses Sprouting at Closed Former California Air Force Bases - It may be counterintuitive to think of EPA Superfund sites as hotbeds of green technology. But as the Air Force Real Property Agency -- responsible for buying, selling and managing Air Force property worldwide -- continues cleaning, restoring and transferring property to the community, the former bases are attracting more clean, green businesses by the day.
Kohl's Department Stores built an enormous solar array on the rooftop of their San Bernardino Distribution Center. [Courtesty photo]
Inland Valley Development Agency
294 S. Leland Norton Way, Suite #1,
San Bernardino, CA
92408-0131
Phone: (909) 382-4100 Inland Valley Development Agency
Installations, Environment & Logistics Areas of Responsibility
Norton Today 
