The Broadneck grounds were armed with anti-aircraft missiles to defend Annapolis during the Cold War. Then the Navy dug concrete pits there to test-burn ship materials in the 1970s.
These 24 acres are the former Bay Head Road Annex.
The Navy is again reviewing the environmental health of the annex. It's also reviewing conditions at a former research facility at the tip of the Broadneck Peninsula, David Taylor Research Center.
David Taylor opened in 1908 as a center where shipbuilders could weld and test alloys on the banks of the Severn River.
Low levels of chemicals and metals were identified in the soil and groundwater at these two sites. Because of this, homes were prohibited at the annex and David Taylor was restricted to industrial uses, with use of the groundwater prohibited.
"Concentrations were low enough such that an active remediation was not required," said Paul Burgio in an emailed statement. Burgio is an environmental coordinator for the Navy office overseeing the review.
"Their (chemical) presence did necessitate a prohibition against residential development and the consumption of groundwater," he said in the statement.
The last review was completed in 2009 and officials say they have no reason to believe conditions have worsened at the sites. Past reviews found the sites meet industrial standards and pose no risk to human health.
"We are not anticipating any significant changes," Burgio said.
The properties are monitored under federal programs to clean up potentially hazardous waste sites. Federal law requires a review every five years of sites where hazardous waste remains at levels that could pose a risk to people.
Naval Facilities Engineering Command Washington has begun the third five-year review of the sites. The Navy is working with the state Department of the Environment to conduct the review.
The 44-acre David Taylor Research Center is across the Severn River from the U.S. Naval Academy and was the former site of the Naval Surface Warfare Center.
David Taylor was shut down as part of the Base Realignment and Closure process in the 1990s, and was turned over to Anne Arundel County. In the early 2000s, it was turned over to private developers who had a $250 million plan for an inn and office buildings. That plan has been stalled for years..
The former Bay Head Road Annex is near the Beacon Hill area of the county. It was used by the Army for Nike missile-defense operations between 1954 and 1969.
The Navy later conducted burn tests there to determine the heat-resistant properties of materials used on board ships. Naval operations there ceased in the 1990s.