Fort Drum wants ex-depot for training grounds

[unhappycamper]

Fort Drum wants ex-depot for training grounds
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jun 10, 2008 6:19:43 EDT

ROMULUS, N.Y. — After an eight-year absence, the Army could soon return to the former Seneca Army Depot in upstate New York to train troops.

Officials at Fort Drum in northern New York are finalizing a lease with Seneca County officials to use about 3,000 acres of the 10,600-acre former weapons storage and disposal facility.

Currently, county and military officials are accepting public comment on the Army’s request until June 29, said Patricia Jones, executive director of the Seneca County Economic Development Corp., which has approved the plan. An environmental assessment determined there would no significant impact from the Army’s use of the depot, she said.

“It’s not exactly an economic development project, but it will be nice having the soldiers on the depot again,” said Jones, who worked as a civilian at the depot before she became the county’s base reuse coordinator.

Tucked between Cayuga and Seneca lakes in upstate New York’s Finger Lakes region, the 10,587-acre army depot opened in 1941. For more than 50 years, the depot was used to store and dispose of military explosives, including nuclear bomb materials. It ceased most operations in 1993 and officially closed in 2000.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/06/ap_drum_seneca_060908/