Saturday, July 7, 2001

Navy should drop plans for bombing range

AUSTIN - More and more elected officials and interest groups are weighing in on the proposed bombing range in Kenedy County. That's a bad sign for supporters of the plan.
   Among the most vocal opponents is a coalition of Texas environmental groups, which wrote a letter urging Secretary of the Navy Gordon England not to consider Kenedy County for a bombing range.
   But more importantly than opposition from environmentalists, the Kenedy County commissioners unanimously rejected the idea.
   Supporters should have expected strong opposition to any proposal to drop bombs on the Texas coast. As one environmentalist put it, such a plan is akin to coal mining in Yellowstone National Park.
   Talk of a bombing range in Kenedy County was spurred by President Bush's decision to stop using the Vieques Island in Puerto Rico for bombing and live-fire training after 2003. The reason? Continuing complaints and protests.
   Some military and economic development officials believe a 220,000-acre area in Kenedy County could be a replacement to Vieques.
   Bush said residents of Vieques don't want the bombing range, and the U.S. Navy should not train where they aren't wanted. That's an important point for the Navy to remember because Kenedy County doesn't want it either. Putting a bombing range in Kenedy County doesn't solve the Navy's problem. It only shifts it from Puerto Rico to Texas. Any bombing range in Texas will be met with fierce resistance.
   "They are going to have just as big of a headache here as they do in Vieques,'' said Fred Richardson, communications director for the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club in Austin.
   Some business and political leaders in the Corpus Christi area say the bombing range would attract jobs and protect the area's military installations from future cutbacks or base closings.
   They may be right. Texas is a strong military state and attracting more defense activity is usually a positive move. But a bombing range could have serious implications on the environment and health of residents in the area.
   Bombs and birds don't mix
   Part of the proposal includes three corridors to allow amphibious landing vehicles to roll through the Padre Island National Seashore and across the Laguna Madre to reach the mainland. The proposed area is surrounded by Baffin Bay to the north, Laguna Madre to the east and south, and the National Seashore on the east. The area is home to 13 endangered species, and it's a major migratory bird area, touted on coastal birding trail maps.
   The fact that endangered species live nearby should have alerted supporters to expect a monumental fight with environmental groups.
   The environmental groups are planning a major opposition campaign and thousands of protestors are expected to demonstrate at the proposed site in August. Many people - especially environmentalists - thought the proposal to place a bombing range on the Texas coast was a joke when they first heard about it. They wondered who would support converting a pristine stretch of the South Texas coastline into a bombing range.
   Supporters say critics shot it down before they gathered all the facts. But the only fact needed is that Kenedy County officials are against the proposal. That should be the end of discussion. Further study is a waste of time and money. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said she won't support a bombing range in the area after she received a letter from Kenedy County commissioners outlining their opposition.
   Kenedy County Commissioners stood firm and did what they were elected to do: respond to their constituents' concerns and take the appropriate action to ensure the health and safety of the area and its residents. Now it's the Navy's turn to honor the wishes of the local community and remove Kenedy County as a possible bombing site.
   Ty Meighan, chief of the Scripps Howard Austin Bureau, can be reached at 512-334-6640 or by e-mail at meighant@scripps.com.
  
  
  

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Ty Meighan is chief of the Scripps Howard Austin Bureau. You can reach him by phone at (512) 334-6640 or by email at meighant@scripps.com.

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