Newspaper Page Text
The ADVANCE, May 26, 2021/Page 12A
Stye Ahumtce
Decision time approaching
on Spaceport Camden
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
Camden County is
pulling out all the stops to
win approval of plans to
build a commercial space
port supporters say would
represent a huge economic
boost for southeastern
Georgia.
The county spent
nearly $825,000 between
July 2020 and March of this
year on a team of lobbyists,
including a former chief of
staff to Gov. Brian Kemp,
to convince the state to en
dorse Spaceport Camden,
according to documents
filed by the county.
The spending came
with a project seven years
in the making approaching
a final decision. While the
Federal Aviation Admin
istration (FAA) is due to
decide by the end of next
month whether to license
the spaceport, it will be
leaning heavily on the Geor
gia Department of Natural
Resources (DNR) for rec
ommendations.
“The timing would lead
you to believe they needed
help from the governor’s of
fice to get pressure on the
DNR,” said Dick Parker,
one of a group of property
owners on nearby Little
Cumberland Island who
oppose the project.
Supporters are count
ing on Spaceport Camden
to create up to 2,000 jobs
and help convince the next
generation of aerospace
engineers, many of whom
graduate from Georgia
Tech, to stay in Georgia.
The project has the backing
of Gov. Brian Kemp and the
state’s congressional delega
tion.
Camden County Ad
ministrator Steve Howard,
who also serves as project
leader for the spaceport,
said up to a dozen com
panies have shown “high-
level interest” in launching
commercial satellites from
Spaceport Camden.
“It’s a once-in-a-gener-
ation opportunity for Geor
gia to play a very important
role in the next space race,”
Howard said.
The FAA originally was
expected to decide whether
to issue a launch license for
the spaceport in late 2016.
But the project was delayed
when the county made a
significant change in design
that called for launching
only small rockets from the
site rather than medium-to-
large rockets.
The project’s oppo
nents say the FAA hasn’t
done an adequate analysis
of the impacts of the design
change.
“These rockets oper
ate differently,” said Brian
Gist, senior attorney with
the Southern Environmen
tal Law Center. “They have
a higher failure rate. They’re
experimental.”
But John Simpson, a
lobbyist in the Atlanta office
of Capitol Resources LLC,
said Spaceport Camden has
made a commitment not to
launch experimental rock
ets.
Simpson cited a March
letter from the FAA to the
Georgia Department of
Community Affairs assert
ing that the risk posed by
the type of small rockets
Spaceport Camden propos
es to launch would be signif
icantly smaller than the risk
from launching medium-to-
large rockets.
The FAA also indicated
small-rocket launches from
the spaceport would be on
the same footprint covered
by launches of larger rock
ets, only smaller.
Kevin Lang, another
Little Cumberland Island
property owner, said even
that smaller footprint en
croaches on environmen
tally fragile marshland.
“There’s a 7,300-foot
radius around the launch
pad that is considered a de
bris disposal area,” he said.
“The purpose of that area is
to catch all the debris from a
launch failure on the pad or
early in the launch.
“Over two-thirds of the
area is coastal salt marsh
owned by the DNR ...
property they have an obli
gation to protect.”
As part of its review
of the spaceport plan, the
DNR must determine
whether allowing satellite
launches over marshland is
consistent with the marsh’s
protected status.
“If they follow the law,
they should withhold their
concurrence,” Lang said.
Opponents say the
FAA also has given short
shrift to the impact satellite
launches would have on the
people and structures be
neath the flight path. That
would include residents of
Little Cumberland Island,
campers and other visitors
to the Cumberland Island
National Seashore and sev
eral historic structures.
“The FAA has said this
is the closest-ever popu
lated area they’ve sought to
launch rockets across,” Gist
said.
But Howard said the
FAA has determined any
risk from satellite launch-
The City ofVidalia
Congratulates our Graduates
On Behalf of Mayor Roper,
City Council, and City Staff
Kylee Pollock-Toombs County
Grace Martinez - Vidalia
Jasmine Smith - Vidalia
Journey Rollins - Toombs County
Dawson Harvey - Toombs County
es at Spaceport Camden
would be limited to the
footprint of the launch site
and not extend to Cumber
land Island or Little Cum
berland Island.
“The analysis we’ve
seen shows you can do this
safely,” he said.
With the time for a fi
nal decision approaching,
Camden County has added
to the team of lobbyists
who have been working the
project for years.
Former Kemp Chief
of Staff Tim Fleming reg
istered as a lobbyist for the
county in February, accord
ing to a report filed with
the Georgia Government
Transparency & Campaign
Finance Commission, five
months after leaving the
governor’s office. Joining
the Spaceport Camden
team at the same time was
Chuck Harper, a former
deputy chief of staff to
Kemp.
Lobbying firms that
have been on the spaceport
team longer include Simp
son’s Capitol Resources, Joe
Tanner and Associates and
Washington, D.C.-based
Capitol Hill Communica
tions.
Howard said it was im
portant to bring in such a
large team of lobbyists and
consultants because of the
nature of Spaceport Cam
den.
“You’re not building
a road or a park. It’s a very
complex subject,” he said.
“You have to have subject
matter experts.”
Where did the word “slave” come from?
Slavery is one of the oldest en
terprises known to man, including
all races and all civilizations. White
Europeans such as the Romans en
slaved millions of White Slavs, or
Germanic tribes, for the Roman
Empire. In fact, the word “slave”
comes from the word “Slav,” be
cause the strong, White Slavic “bar
barians” were also a favorite choice
for Asian, Turkish, and Arab slave
traders.
In Europe, the
Romans enslaved the
Slavs and the Brit
ish, who enslaved
the Irish. The Anglo-
Saxons and the Dan
ish Vikings enslaved
the Ancient Britons.
Conquerors enslaved the Jews
throughout the centuries. Before
the appearance of the White man
in those areas, the native tribes
in Asia, Australia, Africa and the
Americas enslaved members of en
emy tribes.
In the Middle East Muslims en
slaved millions of White Europeans
and Black Africans. The Muslim
slave trade has lasted far longer
than that of other nations, as it still
exists today.
India and China now have mil
lions of people in modern slavery,
now called human trafficking, in
cluding the forced labor of men,
women and children in manual la
bor, domestic servitude, mining,
forced begging, sexual exploita
tion, and forced marriage.
In historic and modern slavery
children are easy prey. Over 400
years ago, Christian
children were taken
from their homes,
forced to convert to
Islam and put to work
as soldiers in the army
of the Ottoman Em
pire. Recently, at least
30,000 children were abducted
and forced to labor in the armies of
Northern Uganda.
Slavery has existed in the world
for thousands of years. In the Unit
ed States it lasted for fewer than 100
years. What is unique is that White
Europeans and Americans were
the first to abolish slavery in their
countries, while other nations still
have not.
Murder
continued from page 1A
criminal gang activity.
On May 19, the GBI
secured arrest warrants for
Willie James Rogers, 35, of
Jacksonville, Florida. Rog
ers is charged with malice
murder, felony murder,
possession of a firearm by
a convicted felon, and pos
session of a firearm during
the commission of a crime,
relating to Wright’s mur
der.
Rogers is incarcerated
at the Toombs County De
tention Center. He was ar
rested on unrelated charges
by the Vidalia Police De
partment on Monday, May
17.
is
The investigation
active and ongoing. Ad
ditional arrests are antici
pated in this investigation.
Agencies assist
ing with the investigation
include the Montgomery
County Sheriff’s Office,
Vidalia Police Department,
and Toombs County Sher
iff’s Office.
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