[CPEO-MEF] Camp Bonneville's future use debated

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Oregon
THE OREGONIAN
Camp Bonneville's future use debated
Foster Church
07/25/03

VANCOUVER -- As an Army-imposed deadline approaches, negotiations about
the future of Camp Bonneville are being played out in conference calls
and meetings in Washington, D.C.

The FBI wants to use part of the camp as a firing range and training
ground; Clark County wants it as a park. But underscoring problems at
the site, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has bowed out of its
oversight responsibilities, and an EPA official has issued a strong
warning about safety and environmental problems at the site.

"We think there are still a lot of unknowns at the site," said Thomas
Eaton, associate director of the office of environmental cleanup for the
EPA in Seattle. "Those unknowns mean that whoever takes on this property
really isn't sure what they are taking on."

Clark County Commissioner Judie Stanton and Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash.,
met last week in Washington, D.C., with the Army's chief base-closure
official, Col. Douglas Baker, and Joseph Whitaker, deputy assistant
secretary of the Army for Installations and Housing.

A conference call among many of the same parties, and with the FBI
participating, took place Tuesday.

According to Stanton, the FBI has made clear it does not want to use the
entire camp. At the same time, she said, the FBI, and various local,
county and state agencies, may want to use it for training and firearms
practice for as many as 200 days a year.

That, she said, could conflict with use of the camp as a county park.

"Having gunfire, and having an outdoor school or camping may not be
compatible, depending on how much you can dampen the noise," she said.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.oregonlive.com/metronorth/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/metro_north_news/1059134839289110.xml

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