223 



State panels 

 want studies 

 by Aerojety^ 



•j't 



'■'1' 



By Mary Manning 



SUN Staff Writer 



"Miil 



iUiMAuM. 



Two state land advisory com- 

 mittees called for Congress to / 

 order a full environmental impact-'* 

 statement on Aerojet's land swap "■' 

 between Nevada and Florida^'' 

 Tuesday. ''■'! 



Although a bill has been in-"'* 

 troduced in Congress in April td-'- 

 allow Aerojet to get 42,800 acrei"'' 

 in'Coyote Springs and 8,910 acrdf •'* 

 in Garfield Flat near Hawthorne''- 

 for 4,650 acres of Aerojet land iAv 

 Florida, near the Everglades, : 

 both the Nevada State Land Use-;; 

 Planning Council and the State;* 

 Multiple Use Advisory Commitob 

 tee on Federal Lands approved;, 

 resolutions calling for full EISn 

 studies. Since Aerojet introduced v? 

 the proposal through the Interior;.^ 

 Department, it did not need to-] 

 conduct an EIS. ,; ? 



Sm aerojet, Pag* 2B 



Aerojet looking to Congress for land swap 



Continuad from Paga IB 



The resolutions also call for 

 full EIS studies for any future 

 large project 



Both groups said Aerojet's en- 

 vironmental report did not ad- 

 dress mineral rights, access to 

 Nevada's land currently owned by 

 the Bureau of Land Management, 

 and water availability. 



Bruce Tanner of Clark Coun- 

 ty's Comprehensive Planning 

 Division said an environmental 

 impact statement would not block 

 Aerojet's expansion into Nevada 

 from Sacramento, but would help 

 local governments with informa- 

 tion for construction and environ- 

 mental permits needed to build 

 the rocket engine testing ground. 



When asked why Aerojet came 



to Nevada — it b cleaning up 

 toxic chemicals found in ground 

 water near its facility in Sacra- 

 mento, Calif. — Ralph aark, 

 Aerojet's project manager in Ne- 

 vada, replied the defense contrac- 

 tor wanted to attract 1,000 people 

 to work at the facility, access to 

 power lines and water, roads and 

 desolate location. 



Aerojet has applied to the state 

 engineer for a waiter permit for 

 three cubic feet per second, Gark 

 said. 



If Congress approves the land 

 swap and Aerojet builds its solid 

 rocket fuel and testing site, 600 

 jobs will be available in economi- 

 cally depressed Lincoln County 

 and 1,400 jobs become available in 

 North Laa Vegas and Las Vegas, 

 he said. , 



Bill Vincent of Citizens Alert, 

 which does not oppose Aerojet 

 coming to Nevada, raised the is- 

 sues of land appraisals and lack of 

 alternate sites. 



"We think they were looking 

 for a quick answer, an easy an- 

 ' swer, and did not look at any other 

 sites," Vincent said. 



In addition, Aerojet's ap- 

 praisers settled on |4S an acre for 

 Coyote Springs, Vincent said. 

 Clark noted that Aerojet hired an 

 independent appraiser and one 

 taken from the Bureau of Land 

 Managament's list. 



However, members of the con} - 

 thittees said land in Nevada rare- 

 ly wen OoFlinge r 1300 an jcre 

 with water. I n addition. Aerojet 

 got title to Coyote Spring es mia- 

 eral rights. '. :t , 



