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Hello All,
Monday Feb. 25, 2008 I attended two meetings at Titusville City Hall.
These meetings were set up by NASA to gather public comments (scoping) &
to inform & involve the public regarding a proposed commercial vertical
launch complex. The meetings were scheduled for 1:00 PM & 6:00 PM & were
attended by about 300 people. Almost every person who spoke expressed
their support of the overall space program & expressed their displeasure
with both of the alternative sites that have been identified to date.
Site 2 almost always being described as worse than site 1. A number of
present & former space program employees spoke as well.
A common theme presented by a large number of speakers, including the
space program employees, was that there are a number of areas located on
the Kennedy Space Center or at Canaveral Air Force Station to the south
where old launch pads exist and are not being used, or will soon be out
of use. In these areas there would be little or no environmental
concerns regarding wildlife habitat. About 15 listed species of animals
are found in the proposed areas, including the largest Florida Scrub Jay
population in the world.
NASA owned properties include KSC as well as Merritt Island National
Wildlife Refuge & Canaveral National Seashore. The refuge property is
administered by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service & the National Park
Service administers the National Seashore. So, if NASA wants to build
something in the refuge, they own the land.
In 2007 NASA commissioned the "KSC Vertical Launch Site Evaluation
Study" to evaluate potential Commercial Vertical Launch Complex (CVLC)
site locations on NASA owned property. Based on this study, NASA
selected two potential sites for further evaluation. Alternative 1 is
located along the Atlantic coast south of Shuttle launch complex 39A and
north of the Atlas launch complex 41. This is in the area that the
public knows as KSC & is closed to the public. Alternative 2 is located
in MINWR east of SR 3, north of SR 406 and south of the Scrub Ridge
Trail. Charles Lee Director of Advocacy for Audubon of Florida stated at
the 6:00 PM meeting that both of these two sites are unacceptable, &
that locating the facility at site 1 would actually cause more
ecological damage than locating it at site 2. Site 1 has a large
population of Florida Scrub Jays, Florida Gopher Tortoises, Florida
Beach Mice & Indigo Snakes. Locating the facility in the refuge could
result in as yet undetermined permanent & temporary closings in a number
of areas in the refuge. Location of the facility at this location could
cause untold harm to people in the guiding business, hunters & a
reduction of local business across the board.
As a second step in determining where this commercial facility should be
located NASA is now preparing an Environmental Assessment (EA) pursuant
to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to assess the impacts
that the implementation of the proposal at these two sites might have on
the environment. Under (NEPA) the "environment" includes the physical
(air, water, land) and biological (plants, animals) environments, and
human relationships to the environment (i.e archaeological, cultural,
health, safety. jobs, housing, schools, aesthetics). NEPA does not
require that an EA include the "scoping" meetings that were held on
Monday & the two that are scheduled for 10:00 AM & 5:00 PM tomorrow,
Thursday Feb. 28, 2008 at the New Smyrna Beach Public Library. So, we
appreciate that NASA has concluded that gathering such information is
in the best interest of the public and the mission. Following these
scoping meetings a Draft EA will be prepared which will be available for
public review and written comment. That input will be considered in the
preparation of the final EA. The draft EA is scheduled for release in
late Spring or early Summer 2008. The final EA should be out in the fall.
As I understand it, during the 2007 study about 14 possible sites on
NASA property were investigated & the result was the two aforementioned
sites & a third alternative termed No Action, which is the alternative
of not implementing the proposal. The rational used in eliminating any
areas on NASA property that are already disturbed & already have at
least some infrastructure was not clear to me & I know that Charles had
serious concerns regarding that process, or at least on their
conclusions that led to the three alternatives that were chosen. As I
recall those reasons were given in only the most general of terms, &
people who will be attending the meetings tomorrow might want to press
the presenters from NASA on a more detailed explanation of that question.
NASA did not consider any sites on the Air Force Base because they have
no jurisdiction over Air Force owned land. This is true, but in my
opinion, a comprehensive study should be done to determine the most
appropriate site for the facility on federally owned land at the cape,
regardless of which federal entity currently has jurisdiction. If it
should be determined that property located on the Canaveral Air Force
Station is indeed the most appropriate, it should be used. If the
facility must be on NASA land (which I believe it is, & should be) then
a portion of that base should be annexed to the existing KSC property. I
know that this process of jurisdictional transfer under normal
circumstances can take years. As an example it took several years to
transfer the Coast Guard Station on Loggerhead Key in the Dry Tortugas
from the US Dept. of Commerce to the US Dept. of the Interior. But, with
the Shuttle Program coming to an end in the next two years NASA
understandably wants to get THE site selected, & get work under way in
an shorter time frame than that! In my opinion these are not normal
circumstances, & if the feds want it to happen fast they can make it
happen fast!
So, what the situation boils down to is this: Is it worth NASA's time to
deal with the Air Force to potentially save 200 acres of valuable
irreplaceable habitat
inhabited by a host of listed species? Even an ass like me knows that
the answer is YES!!! After all, the Department of Defense and NASA are
both agencies within the same government! Another question is: Should
NASA have even started this process without considering Air force sites?
In my opinion the answer is NO. Would it have been that crazy for NASA
to have talked to the Air Force before starting this whole process?
Way back a half a century ago when NASA worked out the administration of
the now MINWR & CNS areas of the KSC the powers that be probably thought
that NASA owns the property so there shouldn't be that big a deal if we
want to expand in the future into those areas. Maybe if an expansion had
been proposed in 1963 there would have been little outcry, but that was
before the last 50 years of habitat destruction & the extinction of the
Dusky Seaside Sparrow on Merritt Island, & before Bo Sauselein & Scott
Maness died fighting a fire there. Now, we the people who own the
property must have a say!
I am under the impression that in the past NASA has been a good steward
of the lands that they own & administer. I think that they want to do
the RIGHT thing. They just may not at present know what the RIGHT RIGHT
thing is. We need to make it crystal clear that THE right thing is to
preserve in tact the area with the greatest biodiversity in North
America. And, that the environmental community in Central Florida, the
country & the world will unite to protect a place that we love so much,
that we can't describe it without tears welling up in our eyes. MY old
friend mentor & hero Alan Cruickshank was in large part instrumental in
the establishment of MINWR & the CNS. The thought that the wildlife
trail named in his honor could be lost forever to the public is so
hateful to me that I am unable to fully express the true depths of my
anger, & disgust and my resolve that this will happen over my dead body!
Please write, call & email all the people who have been mentioned in
previous posts.
On behalf of birders everywhere I would like to express my heartfelt
thanks to Barbara Passmore of Floridabirds & John Puschock of
FlaBirding for allowing this information to go out on their lists.
Wes Biggs
Orlando
H 407-384-9766
C 407-376-6967
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