Delaware County Daily Times August 11, 2005
Can Ellsworth be saved?
By Randy Hascall
The next two weeks will be filled with anxiety, behind-the-scenes lobbying and hope for Ellsworth Air Force Base supporters as they make final pleas to an independent commission that has the power to remove the base from a closure list.
A hectic 12 weeks have passed since the Pentagon announced Ellsworth is one of the major bases it plans to close in a nationwide sweep to cut the U.S. military budget. Since that announcement, the nine members of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission have studied the military’s recommendations, visited the targeted bases and held a series of hearings.
Ellsworth supporters have experienced ups and downs during that time, and say they’ve done everything they can to show that targeting the South Dakota base for closure was a mistake.
Sometime during the week of Aug. 22, the commission will decide which bases, if any, to remove from the Pentagon’s list.
Ellsworth supporters find hope in comments that have been made by members of that panel, particularly concerns they’ve expressed over consolidating all the nation’s B-1 Bombers at Dyess Air Force Base in Texas.
One commissioner, former Utah Rep. James Hansen, said South Dakota has a good argument. “Ellsworth is a strategically located base, and it has a tremendous track record and local support,” he said. “It’s a tough decision.”
Another commissioner, former Transportation Secretary Samuel Skinner, said of consolidating
B-1s: “It is clear that they are vulnerable.”
Based on commissioners’ comments and “very valid questions,” Gov. Mike Rounds has publicly stated that he thinks Ellsworth may have the support of four members of that panel, including the three who participated in a hearing at Rapid City. Five votes are needed to remove a base from the closure list.
“That’s based on public comments they’ve made,” Rounds said. “We’re not privileged to any more information than anyone else is.”
More information
Before commissioners vote, members of the Ellsworth Task Force, the governor and the state’s congressional delegation agree the most important step will be to make sure commissioners have every piece of information that’s pertinent to South Dakota’s challenge. They said last week they were concerned that some important facts hadn’t reached commissioners yet.
“We’re disappointed the commissioners aren’t getting the information,” said Pat McElgunn, the task force’s executive director. “Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks we’ll get everything before them that’s relevant.”
McElgunn said he recently learned through South Dakota’s congressional delegation, which has regular contact with the BRAC commission, that commissioners still didn’t have their hands on some pieces of information that was submitted. He said he doesn’t know whether a staff breakdown is to blame or whether the commission’s staff is waiting for more papers to be filed so it can give members complete packets.
Commissioners reportedly don’t yet have facts about flight range limitations at Dyess Air Force Base in Texas, where Ellsworth’s 29 B-1 Bombers would be moved. A federal lawsuit challenges the B-1 Bomber training route at Dyess.
Lawsuit in Texas
U.S. Sen. John Thune said the uncertainty resulting from that lawsuit should have been factored into the Air Force analysis that was used to develop the base-closing list. The lawsuit arose out of a 1997 Air Force aerial-training plan. Ranchers and organizations sued in 2000, claiming they were affected by the noise and that their property values declined because of the training flights.
A court ruled in favor of the Air Force in 2003, but an appeals court overruled the lower court last fall and ordered the Air Force to produce a new environmental impact statement. For the time being, low-level fly-overs are subject to certain restrictions.
The Air Force hasn’t yet informed the court that its realignment plan would station more bombers at Dyess, essentially doubling flights, McElgunn said.
“We think this issue needs to be much more crystallized to make sure commissioners understand that,” he said.
McElgunn said task force members hope five or six commissioners will support Ellsworth.
Members of the staffs of Thune, Sen. Tim Johnson and Rep. Stephanie Herseth are working together and are in regular contact with the BRAC Commission staff.
“Our No. 1 focus is, and will remain, this hearing in August,” said Julianne Fisher of Johnson’s staff. “Endless amounts of work are being done to try to get Ellsworth off the list. It’s not a partisan issue at all. It’s one of those things where all hands are on deck.”
Political pressure
Thune staff member Alex Conant said Thune has “made it abundantly clear” to the Bush administration that he thinks the Pentagon made a mistake by putting Ellsworth on the closure list and that there are severe problems with the BRAC process. The senator is following a progression of steps and hasn’t requested a meeting with the president, Conant said. The commission has until Sept. 8 to submit its final base closure list to the president.
Herseth’s communications director, Russ Levsen, said the congresswoman recently spoke to individual commissioners by telephone to make South Dakota’s case one-on-one.
Rounds said the delegation, his staff and the task force have worked together in a bipartisan effort to correct misinformation from the Pentagon and build a strong case for Ellsworth.
“Our goal is to share every single thread of evidence to allow the commission to make the right decision,” the governor said.
Rounds has written a letter to commission Chairman Anthony Principi to summarize Ellsworth’s case and plans to follow that up with a personal contact.
A national defense analyst, John Pike of Global.Security.org, said the case against consolidating all B-1s at one base is one of the best arguments Ellsworth supporters could make, but that doesn’t mean it’s likely to sway commissioners.
“We’ve gotten along just fine having all the B-2s at one location,” Pike said. “No one has had a problem. The situation is now very different than during the Cold War.”
Consolidation
Pike said the strongest cases seemed to be made by people concerned about Pentagon plans to consolidate aircraft within the Air National Guard.
“I don’t have the sense that much of the rest will get changed,” Pike said.
Ellsworth supporters have emphasized since the base closure list was released that they face an uphill battle, but think they’ve built a strong case.
Several concerns factor into the argument against consolidating the B-1s at one base and one runway. The threat of destructive tornadoes and winds is even greater in Texas than in South Dakota, McElgunn said. Terrorism is another threat. And B-1 training routes at Dyess could be restricted because of the litigation there.
“I think everyone raised a number of concerns and red flags,” McElgunn said. “Commissioners have a monumental task before them. We’ll be on pins and needles.”
© Copyright 2005, Delaware County Daily Times
