Fort Gillem
| Fort Gillem | |
|---|---|
| Forest Park, Georgia | |
First Army shoulder sleeve insignia
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| Coordinates | 33°37′13″N 84°19′44″W / 33.6202°N 84.3289°WCoordinates: 33°37′13″N 84°19′44″W / 33.6202°N 84.3289°W |
| Type | Army post |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | U.S. Army |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1941 |
| In use | 1941-2011 |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | First Army |
Fort Gillem was a United States Army Post located in Forest Park, Georgia, on the southeast edge of Atlanta in Clayton County. Founded in 1941, it was a satellite installation of nearby Fort McPherson. The base houses different supply and support units, including the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory and the 3rd MP Group (CID), both units of the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command. It employs 456 active duty personnel, 1,663 Army reservist, and 1,667 civilians. In 1973, its 1,465 acres (5.93 km2) were annexed by Forest Park. The fort was named in the memory of Lieutenant General Alvan Cullom Gillem, Jr..
The US Army established Fort Gillem in 1940 with the simultaneous construction of the Atlanta Quartermaster Depot and the Atlanta Ordnance Depot, which were mostly completed by December 1942. The two installations operated separately until April 1, 1948, when consolidated physically and operationally as the 'Atlanta Army Depot', a subcommand of the Army Materiel Command. The Atlanta Army Depot was deactivated on June 28, 1974.
Buried landfills have contaminated ground water under neighborhoods north and south of Gillem, and inspectors sampled indoor air early summer 2014 for vapor intrusion. As of September 2014[update], 40 homes had been tested and 26 homes were found to have elevated levels of benzene and trichlorethylene. The chemicals, which entered the homes through groundwater, are those commonly used to strip metal" per the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. The Army plans to install air ventilation systems in these homes to "eliminate or greatly reduce any risk". If higher levels are found in any other homes, larger mitigation efforts will be undertaken during which residents would relocate.
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