Naval Weapons Station Earle, located in Monmouth County, New Jersey at Colts Neck, was established in 1943 to provide East Coast Atlantic Fleet ships with weapons loading and ammunition storage support. The station features a unique pier extending approximately 2.5 miles into Sandy Hook Bay and Raritan Bay, allowing weapons loading of Atlantic Fleet surface ships at the pier. Naval Weapons Station Earle serves as the primary Atlantic Fleet ammunition and weapons loading station, providing ordnance support for ships homeported at Naval Station Norfolk, Naval Station Newport, and other East Coast homeports. Navy ordnance ratings and weapons personnel working at Earle throughout the WWII through Cold War era were stationed in facilities using asbestos-containing construction materials consistent with military industrial facility construction of the period.

Ordnance Handling and Storage Facility Asbestos

NWS Earle’s ordnance facilities incorporated asbestos-containing construction:

  • Ammunition magazine and storage buildings — the ordnance storage magazines and ammunition storage buildings at Earle used WWII-era and Cold War military industrial construction with asbestos-containing building products in the storage facility construction. Ordnance handling and weapons personnel working in these storage facilities encountered asbestos-containing construction materials in the building stock
  • Weapons assembly and maintenance facilities — the weapons maintenance and ordnance assembly buildings at Earle used WWII military construction with asbestos floor tile, asbestos ceiling materials, and asbestos-containing pipe insulation in the ordnance handling facility mechanical systems
  • Deep-water pier facilities — the ordnance handling buildings and weapons loading structures at Earle’s extended pier facility used military construction with asbestos-containing materials in the pier support structures and weapons handling buildings servicing Atlantic Fleet ships at the pier

Shore Administrative and Support Buildings

The station’s administrative facility stock used asbestos-containing construction:

  • Administrative and support buildings — the administrative buildings and base support facilities at NWS Earle used WWII-era and Cold War military construction with asbestos floor tile, asbestos ceiling products, and asbestos pipe insulation in the residential and administrative facility construction

VA Claims for Naval Weapons Station Earle Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure at naval shore facilities. Navy ordnance and weapons personnel who served at Naval Weapons Station Earle and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.