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No Nukes North
Anchorage Daily News
Bush Plans Renews Controversy in Kodiak (ADN August 5, 2001) complete article
Military May Seek Exemption from Environmental Laws (08/22/01)
Call 486-6498 for information on NMD on Kodiak.
This page is currently under construction - we are compiling and typing up the information at this time.
“One of the plan’s recommended land use goals, based on forceful public input at work sessions and survey responses, would prohibit additional industrial development in the plan area not related to the KLC, and encourage in strong terms further public review for any future expansion of the facility. Additionally, no commercial land use designation or corresponding zoning is recommended for the area based on the preference expressed by the work session participants and survey responses.” (page 20)
“A recommended land use goal stated in the plan is that additional industrial activity in the plan area not directly related to the KLC be prohibited.” (page 12)
“In terms of numbers of users, recreation is clearly the most common use of the plan area.” (page 10)
“Fossil Beach/Narrow Cape and Pasagshak Point were the recreational areas most commonly identified for future State Park expansion in the plan area survey. At this time, no park expansion has been proposed.” (page 10)
“The land use map designates Pasagshak Point, as well as the beaches stretching along the southern edge of Narrow Cape from Pasagshak Point to Fossil Beach, as recreational existing recreational value and use.” (page 10)
“The plans being discussed by President Bush include building five missile silos at Fort Greely near Anchorage and two silos in Kodiak, said Richard Lehner, a spokesperson for the National Missile Defense program in Washington, D.C.”
“The Kodiak silos would be used to launch target or interceptor missiles, he said.”
“The silos in Kodiak would be used to store or launch missiles under the same conditions as they are stored or launched at Fort Greely, he said.”
“A missile attack from rogue nations such as Iraq or Iran, which the current limited testing program seeds to defend against, is not likely to occur in a place such as Kodiak, he said. There are more attractive targets in Alaska....”
“ ‘The jig is up. The Trojan Horse has revealed its true contents,’ said resident Vikki Kennedy, pointing to an early pamphlet from the Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation touting its commercial launch potential. We are no longer just a private satellite launching facility.”
“Responding to citizens’ concerns about Kodiak’s role in a new national defense testing and deployment strategy, local officials have pledged to do their part to come up with some answers.”
“Borough assembly member Darlene Turner agreed that a town meeting is needed. ‘That’s something that we plan to do,’ Turner said.”
“People worldwide feel a connection to this island - our unique environment, the whales, the bears, the Native history, our commercial fisheries, and the unique culture we all share here.
“Kodiak holds a certain place in the hearts of people who love unspoiled environments.”
“I have always felt that a high-tech rocket launch facility diminishes the mystique of Kodiak Island.”
“Some of us came here with the idea of respecting what we found and not changing it into what we had left.”
“Other folks seem determined on making every place just like the one they’ve used up and left.”
“Pentagon Lawyers have determined that the administrations’s work on missile defense may conflict with an arms control treaty in the next year or so.”
“At some point soon the [Bush] administration will have to decide whether to delay or scale back those activities which the lawyers say go beyond the legal limits of the ABM treaty. The other option facing the administration would be to withdraw from the treaty and go ahead with the planned activities.” P>
“Critics of the Bush plan say they opposed the proposed silos for the same reasons they didn’t want the Kodiak Launch Complex built five years ago. They fear lost access at the Narrow Cape, since the range is the only public land in the area, [Mike] Sirofchuck said. Environmental damage from silo construction and missile launches is another factor, he said, and the fact that the Kodiak announcement came as a surprise makes critics wonder what else the government isn’t telling them.”
“Jack Bennett was teaching a high school current events class when news broke about ‘that rocket thing’ in the mid-1990’s. Bennett thought at the time that ‘this is a military process just being eased in the back door,’ he said last week.”
“ ‘I’m not only skeptical,’ he said. ‘They have just destroyed one of the most beautiful places on the island.’”
Last update: August 25, 2001
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