By Dawn House
The Salt Lake Tribune
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Dugway Proving Ground, the supersecret Tooele County
military installation already the size of Rhode Island, is seeking permission
from the U.S. Army to acquire more land.
The request comes on the heels of Dugway's final plan, released last month,
to double biological and chemical weapons defense testing and expand counterterrorism
training. A mock city is to be built for urban chemical and biological attack
exercises and several existing facilities will be used for counterterrorism
training for both military and civilian personnel in Utah's west desert.
Dugway has released little information on its request to increase the size
of
the installation
80 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. Other than a seven-sentence statement,
Dugway officials were mum on the request, where the land is located, its
size or the purpose for which it might be used.
"A request for permission to study the feasibility of withdrawal for military
use of additional public lands adjacent to Dugway has been sent through the
Department of the Army chain of command," said a statement released on Monday.
"No action has been taken at this time and it is not known how long the process
will take once it begins."
Dugway officials said "preliminary discussions" also have been held with
the Bureau
of Land Management involving "training use" of lands
adjacent to Dugway currently administered by the BLM and once leased by the
Army.
Steve Erickson, director of a watchdog group called Citizens Education Project,
said the land is likely a large stretch of BLM land on the installations'
southeastern side, north of the Tooele-Juab county line and west of the historic
Pony Express Trail.
"Dugway made an unsuccessful effort in the late 1980s to grab that land from
the BLM because, according to Dugway at the time, there was a high potential
for unexploded nerve gas shells on those acreages, but they were unable
to effectively document
the existence of any unexploded ordinance," he said.
Erickson said the land in question is at least 100 square miles.
"It's puzzling what they are trying to accommodate," he said. "And it's troubling
because they would be getting awfully close to a lot of recreational thoroughfares."
After repeated inquiries, Dugway spokeswoman Paula Nicholson said she has
no idea of the amount of land involved in the expansion or where it is located
because "the people I need to talk to are all off-site."
The Dugway statement said: "In the event approval is received from the Army,
discussions and agreements between
agencies would still be necessary, as
well as Congressional approval for any changes to current Dugway boundaries."
A spokesman for U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, said the congressman likely
has been briefed on the issue but his office does not have specific information
at this time. Dugway is located in the representative's district.
Dugway's primary mission stems from it being the only Army installation large
and remote enough to conduct "comprehensive and realistic" testing of biological
and chemical systems, munitions, smoke and obscurants without posing a risk
to public safety, according to the three-volume plan to double its testing
programs.
The final testing plan has been forwarded to the Pentagon for final approval. |
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