Terrorists Inside the U.S.: Bloomberg News

Our thanks to NOPE supporter Tom Schulte, who shares with us this Bloomberg News article summarizing a U.S. Senate panel hearing Thursday into homegrown terrorism that, in particular, targets military personnel - something we hope the Navy will reconsider in its ill-hatched plan to open Weapons Station Earle to civilian housing in 2010. In the meantime, we would encourage other supporters to share their tips and ideas with us at njnope@gmail.com or justsaynope@verizon.net.

"NOPE is right"

The words of Mark Rosman, managing editor for Greater Media Newspapers: Navy must kill plan for civilian housing. We found it in the News Transcript (Colts Neck and its neighbors in Freehold, Manalapan, Englishtown and Marlboro) and Edison-Metuchen Sentinel so far and will find out tomorrow whether it runs in the Red Bank Hub and elsewhere.

Diana takes one for the team

NOPE Communications Director Diana Piotrowski once again hit the nail on the head in this Letter to the Editor of the Asbury Park Press, published Tuesday.

The funny thing about the APP is the peanut gallery "In Your Voice" commentary that follows such news articles and opinion pieces. More often than not, the comments are vitrioloic and ill-informed, so it is best for readers to take them with a grain of salt.

To be sure, everyone is entitled to free speech (a right defended by the same people we're battling), but it is laughable how outsiders to NOPE's cause view this as some sort of pitched class or anti-housing battle, which it is not, or some kind of Colts Neck-only effort (the homes are there, but the base is spread across a half-dozen towns). NOPE has thousands of supporters throughout Monmouth County and backing all the way up to the U.S. Senate.

The root of NOPE's effort is to convince the Department of Navy that cutting a hole in the security fencing and paving a free-for-all civilian access road through the base to a cluster of mostly empty homes (which the Navy should not have built in the first place) on an active weapons dump is not the best for base, local and service-member security post 9-11, but is also fiscally irresponsible -- just go and ask Senators Menendez and Lautenberg, Representatives Smith and Holt, state and local legislators across the board. We calculate the unfunded mandate on local and N.J. taxpayers at $500 million...at the least.

The Laurelwood housing issue at Weapons Station Earle cannot be viewed in a vacuum. There are many issues that make this extremely complex - even so for NOPE's core volunteer leaders that have spent two years and thousands of hours picking this issue apart. So it is unfair to put any weight in anonymous, blog-type attacks from ill-informed aggressors who would rather complain aloud than actually step up and do something for the benefit of his or her community. Renting homes to anyone smack dab in the middle of a weapons dump is no benefit to anyone and is, in light of Diana's reference to the Kitsap-Bangor break-in (and implicit reference to the Fort Hood massacre), a total recipe for disaster.

Background checks and counterterrorism

It is impossible for NOPE to sift through the thousands of news articles, commentary and opinions about the senseless Fort Hood massacre for something objective, but this article from the November 14 Houston Chronicle touches upon two topics relevant to our objection to the Department of Navy's plan to rent the Laurelwood homes on Naval Weapons Station Earle to civilians by next year: background checks (i.e. military readiness) and coordination between U.S. intelligence services.

Those new to NOPE's case may be shocked to find that the Navy is willing to create an unimpeded (i.e. no main gate, no background checks to residents and any visitors) access road to the 300 Laurelwood homes within NWS Earle's fenceline, simply as an out to a bad "privatized" housing contract from the 1980s. This not only comes as an unfunded mandate to New Jersey's taxpayers and local citizenry, but also will severely compromise the base's mission and the quality of life for active military and contractors residing in other homes inside NWS Earle.

The point being...no matter where you stand in the aftermath of Fort Hood, it is clear to the humble constituents of NOPE (and in the Houston Chronicle's piece about the U.S. Army) that, somehow, the security of the U.S. Military's own bases appears secondary to military decision-makers, and that our nation's counterterrorism efforts may need a fresh perspective. For, how else could you explain the preposterous notion of opening underutilized military housing on an active, secure and strategically significant Naval munitions storage facility to anyone that can merely pay the rent?

Christie win could prove valuable to NOPE

As political outsiders, we find the inclusion of District 13 (Middletown) Sen. Joseph Kryillos on Governor-elect Chris Christie's 10-member transition team may prove vital to NOPE's goal to prevent the Department of Navy from turning NWS Earle into a civilian rental community where residents and visitors are granted unimpeded access to the Laurelwood homes.

Mr. Kryillos is the co-primary sponsor, along with District 12 Sen. (and NOPE supporter) Jennifer Beck, of S3017, which would "require the State Treasurer to issue cost benefit analysis and security report for conversion of military housing to civilian housing at Earle Naval Weapons Station and places moratorium on issuance of certain State permits and plan approvals." In short, the DEP and DOT would be prohibited from issuing any road construction permits to the DoN until the study is complete, throwing a potentially significant wrench into its plans to house civilians by 2010.

Although we were somewhat surprised the Mr. Christie never made light of the Earle situation within the context of his campaign (considering his office was the one that fiercely prosecuted the case against Earle hacker Gary McKinnon, starting around the time of 9/11), we are hopeful that the Beck-Kryillos bill will pass this lame duck session in Trenton, and remind any NOPE SUPPORTERS who still have the WHITE NOPE POSTCARDS in their possession to sign and return them to his or her primary NOPE contact ASAP (or mail to us at P.O. Box 261, Colts Neck, NJ 07722). These are the ones we need to submit in Trenton when the day comes (presumably this month) to lobby for S3017 passage.

Otherwise, please continue to return the other four-color postcards to your NOPE contacts ASAP (or mail them yourselves) as we prepare a second bulk mailing around Thanksgiving.

Postcard campaign update - huge early success!

Secretary Ernie Janssen has shipped the first batch (roughly 300 sets) of NOPE postcards distributed at the October 27 rally. We reiterate our thanks to all supporters of this initiative, and ask that you keep up the good work as we strive to alert agencies that have not been paying close enough attention to our communities objections to a horrendous plan!

To reiterate, these postcards (addressing the U.S. Secretary of the Navy and EPA, in addition to our governor and homeland security chief) express residents' objections to the Department of Navy plan to rent military housing to civilians from 2010 to 2040. There are 4 color-coded cards and a 5th white card; the latter, which you should hand to your direct NOPE contact, will help us as we lobby for passage of a key bill in Trenton, sponsored by Senator Beck and the District 12 Assembly (Casagrande, O'Scanlon).

As we've printed some 2,000 sets and we recognize that many are still in circulation (and some may not have had time yet to mail on their own, owing to life's busy schedule), we encourage our supporters who took batches of these cards to keep gathering signatures and return them ASAP to their primary contacts within NOPE, as we will do another mass mailing around Thanksgiving, and perhaps another before the end of 2009.

Together, our supporters can show their fortitude and persistence in fighting a Navy plan that clearly has horrific ramifications for our communities from security, financial, environmental and educational perspectives, not to mention the quality-of-life and work duty compromise of those service members and contractors already residing at Weapons Station Earle.

National Priority List Superfund Sites on Naval Weapons Station Earle

In 1990 NWS Earle was placed on the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERLA) National Priorities List (NPL). During the 1992 IAS a total of 29 potentially hazardous sites were identified at NWSE.

Eleven NPL sites flank both sides (forming a contamination corridor) and are in close proximity to Alignment 4, the chosen unimpeded access route civilian renters will be using to access the Laurelwood housing units.

Below is a listing of the sites, the mission of that particular site and the site’s associated contaminants.

Site 22 - Paint Chip Disposal Area
Contaminant(s): Sediment – PAHs (Benzo(a)pyrene

Site 23 - Paint Chip Disposal Area
Contaminant(s): Soil-Metals & PAHs(Indeno(1,2,3-CD) pyrene, dibenz(a,h)anthracene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benso(a)anthrancene & benzo(a)pyrene) Groundwater-Metals (arsenic, cadmium, lead, & vanadium)

Site 24 & 25 – Closed Pistol Range
Contaminant(s): Bullets and shells containing lead

Site 14 – Defense Property Disposal Office Warehouse, Mercury Spill
Contaminant(s): NONE?

Site 47 – Closed Pesticide Shop
Contaminant(s): Soil –Pesticides (chlordane & 4,4’ DDT), Groundwater-Pesticides (Endosulfan I)
Site 28 – Waste Oil Tank
Contaminant(s): None Identified?

Site 29 – PCB Spill Site of A Hazardous Waste Storage Facility
Contaminant(s): Soil: TPH & low levels of PCB; Groundwater-very low level of VOC (Benzene and 1,2-DCE)

Site 16 – Fuel Line connecting Buildings C-20 & C-50
Epic Site F – Roundhouse
Site 16F – 8 Acres
Contaminant(s): Surface Soil: Metals (Lead) & TPH, Sediment: TPH; Groundwater: Organics (Benezene), TPH, Soil Gas: Organics (total BTEX, TCE, PCE)

Site 11 – Contract Ordnance Disposal Area
Contaminant(s): NONE?

Site 13 – Defense Property Disposal Office Yard
Contaminant(s): Soil: Metals, PAH, & Pesticides, Sediment: PCBs – Aroclor 1254; Groundwater: Metals, (arsenic, cadmium, chromium and lead);VOCs (Vinyl chloride)

Site 1 – Ordnance Demilitarization - (Contaminants are buried)
Contaminant(s): Surface soil, Metals: Aluminum, Chromium, Copper, Mercury, Vanadium, Metal and/or Alloy; Groundwater: Metals, Chromium assumed to be hexavalent (VI), Explosives RDX, Arsenic

QUESTIONS RELATED TO THESE NPL SITES AND ALIGNMENT 4
Ø Will constant vehicular traffic and environmental factors force buried contaminants to reemerge in surface soil and groundwater?
Ø Will a 3rd party re-inspect the contaminated sites prior to permits being issued by the appropriate agencies?

Postcard Campaign update

Anyone holding postcards from the Oct. 27 rally or who coordinated a community sign-up initiative should submit them by day's end to either the town hall or recreation department in Colts Neck, or call 732.544.8595 or email njnope@gmail.com or justsaynope@verizon.net, to set arrangements to have them picked up. NOPE Secretary Ernie Janssen will be sending our first shipment (approximately 500 to each agency) on Wednesday morning.

If you cannot get them to us by day's end, no worries - all four color postcards have mailing addresses, so you can mail them yourselves with a postcard stamp. Otherwise, continue to get your neighbors' signatures on the white postcards we distributed at the Oct. 27 rally. Those will go with our legislative chairperson Elaine Mann when it time to lobby in Trenton for passage of the state legislation that would prohibit DOT and DEP from issuing the Department of Navy permits until the state treasurer studies the civilian housing plan.

Commentary-Naval Weapons Station Earle

Commentary - Naval Weapons Station Earle

Early November has proven to be a tragic time for both the Navy and the Army. Two stories, both involving the infiltration of military bases, only serves to prove the validity of the concerns expressed by Neighbors Opposed to Privatization at Earle (NOPE) regarding the unimpeded access route planned and chosen by the Navy; making way for the rental of 300 Laurelwood housing units to civilians.

To safeguard the base, and base personnel from civilians, and civilians from the daily operations of a fully functioning weapons storage facility, a $5 million dollar, 22, 000 foot chain link fence was deemed by the Navy to offer optimum protection. However according to an article on November 3, 2009 in the Seattle Times, 5 protestors associated with an international peace movement were arrested after cutting through three chain link security fences to reach an area where nuclear missiles are stored at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor— the ages of the protesters; 81, 83, 65, 60, and 60 years old.
This is the same type of fencing the Navy claims will keep Naval Weapons Station Earle safe from intrusion.

For over a year Neighbors Opposed to Privatization at Earle (NOPE) have vehemently opposed the opening of the Laurelwood housing units located on Naval Weapons Station Earle, to civilian renters and facilitating that by granting them unimpeded access.
Arrogant disregard and a deaf ear has been the Navy’s response, to NOPE’s assertion that allowing civilians unimpeded access to the facility is by its very nature, inviting actions which could ultimately lead to tragedy.

Hopefully the Department of the Navy has learned from these recent tragedies.
If not “foolish pride” will go before the fall.

Washington Post: Fort Hood attack 3rd this year targeting military on U.S. soil

It is unfortunate that it took the Fort Hood incident to draw attention and introduce real discussion to the issue of security at U.S. military installations, as evidenced by this Washington Post story on Friday, which rehashes incidents that were given only modest media and political attention and that NOPE has discussed here on this blog ad nauseum (i.e. thwarted attacks on Quantico, Fort Dix, Arkansas Army recruiting center).

The Fort Hood massacre notwithstanding, the separate civilian break-ins at Washington's Kitsap Naval base and North Carolina's Fort Bragg should be enough to get the Department of Navy to recognize that its civilian housing plan at NWS Earle is an utter travesty that threatens to a) compromise the base's own security and b) the safety of the base's workers, and that deserves political and media beyond the local publications to bring to light the seemingly laissez-faire attitude of the broader U.S. military that it can protect its own bases. The unfortunate incidents of the past 7-10 days would suggest otherwise.

N.J. military bases heighten security in wake of Fort Hood tragedy, and a brief perspective

I write this afternoon with a heavy heart in the wake of the horrific killings at Fort Hood, TX.

Merely to inform our readers, the McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst base has increased security measures, according to this brief from the Times of Trenton, in the wake of the horrific scene at Fort Hood, Texas. We have yet to learn whether changes have been made in the security protocols at our nearby bases Naval Weapons Station Earle and Fort Monmouth.

NOPE wishes to reiterate heartfelt condolences to all of those witnessed to the tragedy and remind our supporters that local service members at Earle and Fort Monmouth are the fabric of our community and history. My kids share classrooms with kids of those stationed here. Many of the leaders of NOPE either dutifully served in the military or worked at one of the nearby bases, and the thought of a Fort Hood-like incident here in Monmouth County is devastating. We have much to appreciate about our local military presence.

It is unfortunate, but the largely uncovered (by the media) product of NOPE's objection to proposed civilian housing and unimpeded civilian access at NWS Earle has to do with the safety of service members at the base. As difficult as it is to swallow that a military officer would turn a weapon on his brethren is beyond our civilian realm of comprehension, what readers can take from this tragedy locally, perhaps, is that the protection and quality-of-life issues of service members (i.e. good housing and family care, healthcare, e.g. PTSD awareness and rehabilitation) on U.S. military bases needs a much closer, more-urgent look from our legislators and military leaders.

We, Americans, too often take our freedoms for granted, without engaging in matters critical to those behind the lines. Let us not only turn our thoughts to those grieving the Fort Hood killings, but remember to do all that we can locally to assist those who are making enormous sacrifices as members of the U.S. Military.

Sincerely,
Bill Holobowski,
NOPE Chairman

Extremely heavy hearts in wake of Fort Hood killings

Our thoughts, prayers and condolences must go out to the families of the victims of the horrific scene that has unfolded at Fort Hood, Texas, where gunmen in military uniforms, opened fired on bystanders, killing 11 and wounding 31 others. We turn your attention to the national media coverage of this sad story.

Navy spin-doctoring the Kitsap break-in (?)...and a correction

Our apologies, first off, for sloppily and incorrectly identifying Naval Base Kitsap as a Maine installation (the Bangor reference threw us off) - Kitsap is in Washington, evidently about 20 miles west of Seattle; we've corrected yesterday's blog post accordingly.

Regardless, considering that the story is grabbing attention beyond our ragtag blog, it appears that the Department of Navy or some higher powers are downplaying details about five senior citizen antiwar demonstrators who used bolt cutters to cut thru a few lines of barbed wire security fencing at the base to get near nuclear missile storage areas, merely to protest.

Whereas the Kitsap Sun report on Tuesday suggests the perps (get this...an 81-year-old Jesuit priest, an 83-year-old nun and three crafty seniors in their 60s ) roamed the base for 4+ hours under moonlight without being seen, a Navy spokesman in this AP report, picked up by San Jose (CA) Mercury News and the Navy Times, among others, suggests a ho-hum event.

Texas-based Spero News (apparently a publication focused on religious issues), on the other hand, details that the group not only easily cut through three sets of security fencing before they were apprehended after trying to break thru another fence and tripping a security alarm, but cited Naval Base Kitsap as home to more than 2,000 nuclear warheads, or nearly 25% of the U.S.'s arsenal (according to November 2006 data from the Natural Resources Defense Council). Scary.

Here's the kicker - the intrusion evidently occurred within a day of base security exercises where...better look out..."identification cards of those entering and leaving the base are being checked, and guards are electronically scanning everybody," according to this separate Kitsap Sun piece.

Naval Weapons Station Earle neighbors should keep this Washington incident fresh in their minds when considering the egregiously flawed Department of Navy plan to compromise base security by opening a fully impeded access route to the Laurelwood homes on the base and letting its developer (Laurelwood Homes, LLC) rent on-base housing to civilians from 2010-2040.

Otherwise, keep in mind this insomnia-curing but informative January 2009 report from the U.S. Department of Defense Inspector General that showed that our nearby Earle may have some security oversight problems of its own, pertaining to its reliance on outsource security personnel (a.k.a. Myers Security).

Anyone that did not attend last week's NOPE rally at CNHS or take part in our postcard campaign (NOPE has already collected over 600 sets and disseminated close to 1,000) should contact us immediately at njnope@gmail.com or justsaynope@verizon.net (or call us at 732.322.0130 or 732.946.3747), and we will provide you a packet of postcards (expressing discontent over the Earle civilian housing plan with the Secretary of Navy, EPA, NJ Governor and Homeland Security) that you can fill out and give to your neighbors, friends and family to mail to the proper authorities.

"Did you hear the one about the Priest, the Nun and 3 Senior Citizens that broke into a Navy nuclear missile storage site in Washington?"

No joke. Honestly, you cannot make this stuff up.

According to Tuesday's Kitsap (Washington State) Sun, "five protesters associated with an international peace movement were arrested Monday after cutting through three security fences to reach an area where nuclear missiles are stored at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor."

Among the intruders (pictured to the right): an 81-year-old Catholic priest, an 83-year-old nun and three 60-somethings.

So how did such strong-armed invaders get through three sets of fencing (7-foot fencing: the preferred security measure that NWS Earle will use to deter civilian renters and their visitors from breaking into the secure parts of the base) meant to keep people away from the nukes? BOLT CUTTERS and INGENUITY.

The timeline in the Kitsap Sun story would suggest these folks were prowling the base for about 4 1/2 hours, from the time they broke in (2 a.m., under moonlight: "we were hidden in plain sight the whole time," said one of the seniors) until the time they tripped an alarm (6:30 a.m.) trying to cut another chain-link fence apparently very close to the where nukes are stored. (Frankly, they're lucky they're not dead, since base personnel are authorized to use deadly force under such circumstances of invasion).

Between this comical and at the same time frightening indicent, and the unrelated death (by ordnance explosion) of a civilian intruder into a blast zone last week at Fort Bragg, NC, it is pretty clear that U.S.-based military installations are far from impenetrable, contrary to what the Department of Navy suggests in the environmental impact statement (EIS) on the Laurelwood civilian housing plan at Earle.

Just ask yourself (...and your elected officials): if five geriatrics with bolt cutters can easily break into a nuclear weapons storage site on foot under darkness without being caught by Navy base personnel, how does the Department of Navy's plan to welcome 300 new families of civilian renters at NWS Earle enhance security at one of our largest and most important military ordnance storage facilities?

Civilian renters should never be allowed to step foot on NWS Earle, period, lest the U.S. Navy wants to deal with public relations embarassment like this (and, perhaps even worse, potential fatalities)!

So much for fences and warning signs keeping people off military bases...trespasser blown to bits at Ft. Bragg ordnance range

Two poignant responses in this Fayetteville Observer article today from Fort Bragg (N.C.) spokesman Tom McCollum, on the death of a civilian trespasser who was blown to shreds on Friday when scavenging for scrap metal and stepping on "unexploded ordnance" on an explosives range within the confines of the 35,000-acre Army base in North Carolina:

1. "You are going to have death when someone is stupid and walks into these areas."
2. "We can't control the access to our impact areas...we've done just about everything we can."

As this translates to our civilian housing objections at Weapons Station Earle, and NOPE's view that security forces will never be able to fully stop trespassers once civilians are given keys to the base, we reiterate the point that Lt. Col. Jim Sfayer (retired) made at last Tuesday's NOPE rally (and past NOPE briefings) that, without a full cadre of security personnel, it is impossible to keep trespassers and poachers off military bases as vast as 11,000-acre Mainside Earle and the 35,000-acre Fort Bragg.

As more than a casual observer, it appears ludicrious to us in the case of the accidental death by explosion of a civilian at Bragg for the U.S. Army to take zero accountability for Friday's incident and to write this off as someone for being "stupid." And turning to the Department of Navy's plan to let civilians rent 300 underutilized military houses at NWS Earle, it is ludicrious, as we highlighted on Tuesday night, to expect that Earle can prevent a similar catastrophe by providing unimpeded civilian access to the Laurelwood housing development within its fences.

DO NOT buy the DoN's bill of goods that it can keep us, and NWS Earle, secure by introducing 300 civilian renter families onto the base by September 2010.

NJ's Gubernatorial candidates M.I.A. on Earle

Regardless of where you stand ahead of tomorrow's elections, for the sake of fair disclosure, none of the three primary candidates for N.J. Governor has shown any inkling of interest in sharing views on proposed civilian housing at Weapons Station Earle - an outright disgrace in failing to protect the state's best interests.

New Jersey taxpayers not only face tremendous homeland security risk, but at least a $500 million unfundated mandate, if the Department of Navy gets its wish, in our estimation (see our Business Case analysis).

Earlier this year, Governor Corzine sent a rep to meet with us in Tinton Falls, but had no interest in recognizing the issue or exploring it any more deeply than the cursory attendance at the meeting. Neither the Christie nor Daggett camps responded to written and email inquiries on where the candidates stand. To be sure, we are not really sure than any of them knows that civilian renters are slated for Earle in 2010 if the Department of Navy has its way, although Christie should, since he aggressively prosecuted Gary McKinnon, the U.K. crackpot who crashed essential Earle computer networks for a month around the time of 9/11.

NOPE is nonpartisan, but wants to remind our supporters that, whichever candidate you choose for New Jersey Governor on Tuesday, that you need to a) fill out and mail the pre-addressed postcards to the Governor that NOPE distributed at Tuesday's rally (email us at njNOPE@gmail.com or justsaynope@verizon.net if you need more; we printed another 2,000 copies) and b) place calls to the Governor (609-292-6000) stating your objection to proposed civilian housing at NWS Earle.

Our prayers to injured Earle Navy base employee

The Asbury Park Press reports that a male employee at Naval Weapons Station Earle lost part of his lower left leg Friday morning when struck by a locomotive backing up into a roundhouse. Our thoughts and prayers go out to this injured individual for a speedy recovery and to his family, and we remind readers of how NOPE values the safety and well being of Earle's employees, who are an essential part of our community.

Asbury Park Press take on the GAO...and more on our hugely successful postcard campaign

It is truly nice for NOPE to see a) the reference to the postcard campaign we initiated at Tuesday night's rally and b) the return of reporter Nina Rizzo to this story. Ms. Rizzo has been following the Earle case from the beginning and gives fair and balanced perspectives, which is all any reader can ask in such a multi-layered issue as proposed civilian housing at NWS Earle. We hope the APP editors will keep Ms. Rizzo on this story.

Speaking of the postcard campaign, we've already exhausted our supply of 600 sets distributed (and many subsequently collected) during the rally and are printing another 1,000 sets. For any person interested in soliciting signatures from their neighbors, friends or family, contact us at njNOPE@gmail.com, justsaynope@verizon.net, or call us at 732.322.0130, and we can arrange for you to get a stack once we've printed them.

For those that missed the rally but would like to participate in our campaign, and are unsure what it is about, NOPE has targeted four agencies that need to be aware of the communities' ire - the Secretary of the Navy, the EPA, NJ Homeland Security and Governor Corzine - and is asking people to sign a 5th postcard that we will physically hand over in Trenton as we lobby for passage of the Beck-O'Scanlon-Casagrande bill mandating a state study of the Laurelwood security and financial impacts before any NJ agency (namely DEP and DOT) can issue permits to the Department of Navy. The first four have preprinted address to which people can mail their cards, while we're arranging for drop-off points for the 5th card.

Please stay tuned here for more details, and safe Halloween fun to those participating with their children in what is one of the most fun days of the year!

Congressman Smith: President Signs Earle Amendment Into Law

According to this press release issued Wednesday by Congressman Chris Smith's office, President Obama signed into law Mr. Smith's legislation "to require a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study of the U.S. Navy’s controversial proposal to open the Laurelwood military housing complex on Naval Weapons Station Earle, the largest munitions depot on the East Coast, to the general public."

NOPE again appreciates the years of effort Congressman Smith has put into this issue, well before our group's existence, and wholeheartedly agrees with Mr. Smith's assertion that "making a highly secure military weapons depot accessible to anyone with a month and a half’s rent is a bad idea."

In addition, we anticipate that the GAO's discovery will not only expose the Department of Navy's stubborn and flawed contention that, by contract, it must open the Laurelwood housing to civilians by September 2010, but also will shed light on a number of significant pieces of information that NAVFAC failed to discuss to the U.S. taxpayer in its "Environmental Impact Statement" (EIS) on Laurelwood - namely regarding Supplemental Lease Agreement 43.

It is our understanding that this agreement, obtained earlier this year by NOPE thru the Freedom of Information Act, and signed in August 2002 as part of Laurelwood's refinancing of the mortgage, compounds what was a bad contract from the get-go in the 1980s. And, contrary to the Department of Navy's contention in the EIS that "No Build" (i.e. do not build the Laurelwood road, do not open the houses to civilians) is not an option, No. 43 suggests the lease automatically goes to buyout and teardown phase if the DoN does not provide Laurelwood access to pave the road and upgrade the homes at the end of the "in-lease" (i.e. military's occupation of the homes), which is April 30, 2010.

Here's the kicker. By agreeing to this supplement, S.A. 43 suggests that "the Government" (as referred to in the document), less than one year after 9-11, not only signed away its contractual right to use National Emergency Termination clauses to void the lease, but also appears to obligate the U.S. taxpayer to an additional $20 million+ of rent payments to Laurelwood in the event that certain civilian occupancy levels are not met. NOW we see why the Navy was steadfast in telling us during face-to-face meetings that it would not invoke the termination clause (rather than its excuse at the time that it didn't want to be perceived as a bad business partner to federal government contractors.)

None of us in NOPE is an expert at privatized military housing contracts, but we are hopeful that the GAO report will shed light on important financial data points and security analysis that clearly was lacking in the Department of Navy's (NAVFAC) final EIS, and that the DoN will use this opportunity to finally approach Laurelwood's owner at the bargaining table on a settlement that not only restores order to NWS Earle, but is the right thing to do for surrounding communities and the folks behind Earle's lines who put their lives on the line for our country.

Rally a HUGE success, but lots more to do

The Department of Navy need not look further than the success of last night's NOPE rally at Colts Neck High School to know that it should do an about-face on its egregiously flawed decision to open military housing at Weapons Station Earle to civilian renters, starting next year, through 2040.

NOPE would like to thank the 250-300 that turned out on a rainy night to participate in our rally at CNHS, plus the continued outpouring of support today from many of the attendees, who are eager to volunteer to spread our message and participate in the cause as the Navy's April 30, 2010, deadline to obligate the Laurelwood housing lease draws near.

If nothing else, the Department of Navy needs to know that NOPE is NOT going away, and our ranks will only grow!

NOPE also would like to acknowledge participation of our elected officials - from Sen. Menendez's office and Rep. Smith's and Holt's offices in Washington, all the way thru the District 12 State Senate team, Monmouth County Freeholders and leaders of Colts Neck and Tinton Falls.

And we'd also acknowledge the extensive media coverage from News 12 (our story evidently aired on the 10p and 11p newscasts, and we'll provide a link once it is available) and Millenium Radio (i.e. WOBM, 94.3 The Point, etc) and down to diverse local media.

To reiterate last night's takeaways:

• The NOPE community is unified, committed, and growing even stronger! There is no arguing this point.
• The Navy's assertion to the public that civilian housing at NWS Earle is a "done deal" and needs to go through (and will not compromise the base's mission or our security) is FAR from the truth. As noted last night, article No. 15 of Supplement No. 43 to the Laurelwood lease (see our July 15, 2009 blog entry pertaining to this, with the link providing the full document NOPE obtained through the Freedom of Information Act) obligates the Navy and its developer to a buyout and teardown should "the government fail to provide unimpeded access at the termination of the inlease (April 30, 2010)." Furthermore, Supplement No. 43 also foolishly signed away the Government's right to revoke the lease in the event of a national emergency, and appears to potentially obligate the Government to laddered rent payments to the developer through 2017 at a cost that we calculate at upwards of $22 million.
• The wheels are in motion for a GAO financial and security assessment of the Laurelwood housing issue (see pgs. 898-899 of the House Conference report accompanying the FY 2010 Defense Authorization legislation) - an assessment that the Navy (via the NAVFAC branch) was required to include in its Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) of the Laurelwood housing issue but refused to do, citing confidentiality and a "sorry, but financial projections are too difficult for us to calculate" excuse.
• Supporters need to provide us with a list of 5-10 more names of residents, along with their email addresses, phone numbers and home addresses, so that we can extend our message and increase the pressure on the Department of Navy and the agencies that dropped the ball on this issue, namely the EPA, DHS and Governor Corzine. In addition to the hundreds of postcards you submitted last night (and that we will mail early next week, once cover letters are drawn), visitors to the rally took stacks of the pre-printed postcards home with them to share with their neighbors. In all, we expect to quickly exhaust the 600 sets of protest postcards we printed for last night's rally. Well done, folks!
• NOPE will have a strong turnout for our efforts to lobby members of the State House in Trenton for passage of S3017/A4159, mandating a cost benefit and security analysis of the Laurelwood housing plan before state agencies can issue permits the Department of Navy needs to begin the road construction phase of Alternative 4 (the road to Laurelwood). We anticipate at least 1 busload of supporters, and are targeting 1,000 signed postcards to hand over when the committees meet to discuss the bill, expected sometime after the November elections.

Stay tuned for more in the days, weeks and months ahead, and thanks again for your support, which is essential if we are to prevail in preventing civilian housing at NWS Earle. And please contact us at njnope@gmail.com or justsaynope@verizon.net.

NOPE RALLY TONIGHT - Colts Neck High, 730 p.m.!!!

Please make every effort to attend (children are welcome).

NOPE has prepared a very informative presentation to bring all Monmouth County residents and the general public up to speed on the faulty civilian housing plan at Weapons Station Earle and will include:

• What the Department of Navy left out of its mandated Environmental Impact Study...and what they do not want to public (nor federal agencies such as the EPA) to know
• Recent terror plots at U.S. military bases and why Earle could be targeted
• Colts Neck Township's hiring of Rudy Guiliani's security consulting firm to assist in a security evaluation
• What our lawmakers in Washington, D.C. are doing through the Fiscal 2010 Defense Authorization Act
• The bipartisan support of our N.J. legislators
• Time is running out...only 185 days until the Navy turns the housing over to a private developer and ultimately grants unimpeded access to the Laurelwood homes for the next 30 years
• And much, much more...

To be considerate of your time, our committee has worked diligently to keep the rally to 1 hour. Please attend and SHOW OUR STRENGTH IN NUMBERS!

Thank you for your continued support!

APP Preview of Oct. 27 NOPE Rally

The preview coverage by the Asbury Park Press of tomorrow night's NOPE RALLY (at Colts Neck High School, starting at 7:30 p.m.) is welcome, though somewhat inaccurate.

Short shrift is given to the fact that NOPE's boundaries stretch well beyond "a group of township residents." NOPE comprises resident supporters well beyond Colts Neck's borders, namely Tinton Falls, but other surrounding towns as well (Freehold, Ocean, Howell, Marlboro) that oppose the Navy's plans to house civilians at Weapons Station Earle the next 30 years.

The notion, too, that Senators Menendez and Lautenberg, plus Representatives Smith (District 4) and Holt (District 12), pushed extremely hard for our cause vis-a-vis an defense spending bill amendment in D.C. to mandate a study of the financial and security ramifications of the Navy's plan suggests bipartisan federal support for NOPE's cause in Washington. In Trenton, we have Senator Beck and NJ's 12th District team pushing a companion bill that would prevent the Navy from acting on its wishes until the state conducts its own financial and security threat assessment. Mr. Jordan's APP piece, while appreciated, fails to mention that and falls short in recognizing that our case goes beyond a Colts Neck lawsuit to which NOPE is not a party.

Nonetheless, as Diana Piotrowski, NOPE's Communications Director was quoted as saying, tomorrow night's rally will remind the Department of Navy in Washington that New Jersey's lawmakers and taxpayers are steadfast in opposition to an ill-conceived plan that will grossly endanger the livelihoods of NWS Earle's neighbors. The last thing the Department of Navy wants is continued publicity of the Laurelwood housing issue, and that is what NOPE will continue to provide. The more light we shed on this lunacy, the better our chance to prevail.

Please come out and see for yourself why, tomorrow night (Tuesday, Oct. 27) at 7:30 p.m. at Colts Neck High School. It is your obligation to remain informed and to protect your community.

Senate approves defense spending bill

NOPE is hopeful that the Fiscal Year 2010 Defense Authorization bill, which passed the House earlier this month and the Senate on Friday (by a 68-29 margin), includes provisions mandating a GAO financial and security assessment of the civilian housing plan at NWS Earle. This would mark a major step in our battle to prevent a bad idea presented by the Department of Navy.

Make sure to attend Tuesday night's rally, where we'll update the community on our progress, what we need to accomplish, and where representatives from Senator Menendez's, Representative Holt's and Smith's and State Senator Beck's offices will address the matter.

The NOPE rally kicks off at 730p at Colts Neck High School. Do not miss this event!

Kudos to CN, TF educational leaders...and Charles Basile!

Our sincere thanks to Tinton Falls and Colts Neck school districts for helping NOPE to publicize our RALLY, Tuesday, October 27 at 730 p.m. at Colts Neck High, and recognizing the necessity of grassroots, taxpayer participation in trying to avert a civilian housing disaster at Weapons Station Earle that has the potential to devastate our (and other) school districts.

Through "kiddie mail" (i.e. kids backpacks), we were able to distribute some 1,800 flyers to families of children in Tinton Falls' K-thru-8 district, and thru an email distributed thru Colts Neck's "listserv" reached at least 1,000 more homes in Colts Neck Township. (And, of course, we could not have done it without the help of printing guru Charles Basile, whose company, The Wall Street Group, has proven vital to NOPE's print publicity campaign.)

We cannot stress enough the need for a packed house on Tuesday night as a symbol of community solidarity and outcry against the Department of Navy's plans for Laurelwood base housing and as a show of support to NOPE and our elected politicians, who have put in thousands of hours fighting for the better of our communities.

Please come out and show your support, and we remind readers that NOPE's upcoming rally and our entire mission is not a protest against those who dutifully defend our rights and serve our country at Weapons Station Earle itself (or attend our schools), but as a sign of discontent over a poor decision by the Department of Navy in Washington, D.C. to let civilians reside within the base's fence line. That said, we invite families now residing at Earle to attend on Tuesday night, to ensure that their kids' quality of education is not compromised down the road by bad leadership decisions.

Privatized military housing running amok

The Air Force Times reported earlier this month on how, yet again, military decision-makers misjudged soldiers' (apparently diminishing) interest in on-base housing. In this report, on-base housing occupancy for Air Force installations is running at a mere 83% of airmen, with families of civilian contractors bumping the rate to 88%. The Air Force, in this case, is saddled with filling homes and is considering opening some to basically anyone, including civilians. And, at the same time, leaders show no sign of slowing or revisiting the privatized military housing trend.

Although there are drastic differences between citations in this story and our particular beef with the Department of the Navy, it is important to note for visitors to our rally on Tuesday, October 27 (Colts Neck High, 730pm) that our case at Weapons Station Earle is not much different, from the perspective that each involved privatization...or turning over construction to outside, private developers and property managers; many have been good partners, but a few have ripped off U.S. taxpayers vis-a-vis the U.S. Military (see American Eagle Communities, toward the bottom of the Air Force Times story).

In our case with Earle, the Department of Navy is, in short, pushing the financial burden of a poorly construed 1980s privatized housing contract on the taxpayers of our communities in Tinton Falls, Colts Neck and broader Monmouth County. There was no justifiable, long-term need to build the 300 Laurelwood homes back in the late 1980s (when the DoN knew it was moving ships from their Earle homeport to other bases), and for about a decade now they've essentially been vacant (6-7 are occupied at present), and now it's evidently our communities' responsibility to make good for DoN missteps?!?!

So, rather than buying out the Laurelwood developer and saving everyone - including NWS Earle personnel and the DoN itself - a massive headache and averting a potential security disaster, the Department of Navy is steadfast about letting the developer open the homes to any willing renter on the open market, so long as the Navy can get out of a presumed $3.5-$4 million annual rent payment to Laurelwood Homes, LLC. Go figure.

We will not stand for this. See why at Colts Neck High, Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 730pm.