Base closure criteria listis finalized

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

New Hampshire
PORTSMOUTH HERALD
Base closure criteria listis finalized
By Elizabeth Kenny, ekenny@seacoastonline.com
February 13, 2004

PORTSMOUTH NAVAL SHIPYARD - The final selection criteria that will be
used to decide the fate of military installations like the Portsmouth
Naval Shipyard were released Thursday.

But some say the milestone in the 2005 process of base realignment and
closure process was too vague to deduce if the shipyard will be on the
closure list.

"Any recommended closure can be made to fit the criteria," former
Shipyard Commander and head of the Seacoast Shipyard Association Bill
McDonough said. "They all sound so logical and reasonable. ... Unless
you are stupid, you can make them come out any way you want them to come
out."

Not a single word had been changed from a draft of the criteria that had
been issued in December, even after hundreds of letters to Secretary of
Defense Donald Rumsfeld urged otherwise.

The criteria stated the final criteria for what bases will be closed and
will take into consideration military installations' current and future
capabilities, cost and manpower, location availability, economic impact
on communities, ability to support personnel and environmental impact.

While the criteria are similar to those used in past rounds, the report
that accompanied the release of the 2005 criteria also addressed the
many concerns expressed by members of the public, members of Congress -
including the bipartisan group of seven federal lawmakers from Maine,
New Hampshire and Massachusetts - and other elected officials who took
advantage of a 30-day window open for public comment on the drafted
criteria.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/02132004/news/75619.htm

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