[CPEO-MEF] "Reverse Encroachment" at Shaw AFB (SC)

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Shaw?s security needs put crimp in nearby businesses

By CHUCK CRUMBO
The State (SC)
February 27, 2005

PRESERVING S.C. BASES

SUMTER ? For a dozen years, customers drove past and sometimes stopped
at Charles Bourgeois' furniture store on the north edge of Shaw Air
Force Base.

That all changed the day after 9/11.

Troops were posted at a corner near Bourgeois' store on Frierson Road,
and barriers were erected at the point where the road entered the base.
Only military traffic was allowed.

"We had to close the store for two weeks because no one could come
through with a man standing there with a rifle in his hands," Bourgeois said.

Not much has changed since.

Bourgeois, owner of Shaw Furniture Outlet, considers himself and other
business owners along this stretch of Frierson "victims of 9/11."

What happened might be considered reverse encroachment. While military
leaders often complain about surrounding communities encroaching on
their facilities, Shaw "encroached" on businesses in Sumter. Because the
Sumter businesses are so close to the base, post-9/11 security
requirements trumped the need to keep the road open for customers.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/nation/11003950.htm

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
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