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Blackwater Protested, Supported at Meeting Over Training Grounds

San Diego police and Sherriff's officers were out in force yesterday to keep control of a demonstration outside the County buildings on Ruffin Road. The protestors were there to attend the county's fi

Blackwater Protested, Supported at Meeting Over Training Grounds

San Diego police and Sherriff's officers were out in force yesterday to keep control of a demonstration outside the County buildings on Ruffin Road. The protestors were there to attend the county's first public meeting about a plan to build a private paramilitary training camp in rural east San Diego county. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

Passing cars honked as the demonstrators waved placards reading “No to Blackwater” and “Don't militarize our backcountry.” Blackwater USA, a private military contractor, wants to build a training camp with firing ranges, tactical driving tracks and urban warfare simulations in a remote, rural valley previously used for raising chickens and grazing cattle. The protestors, mainly Potrero residents, peace activists or environmentalists are vehemently opposed to plan.

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Kay Lorraine traveled the 45 miles from Potrero on Highway 94 for the County's public meeting.

Lorraine : We moved there because there's wildlife there still and there's not going to be any wildlife there when they start that firing range.

Hartman : It's probably the most destructive project, other than the Sunrise Powerlink, that we've seen come through San Diego in years

Jeanette Hartman, chair of the land use committee of the Sierra Club, says if the county grants the permit for the training camp, it would reverse agricultural zoning, and the County's General Plan that has been years in the making.

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Hartman : With one application of a mercenary military group, they are considering throwing that out the window and re-designating it into military zone.

Bill Bothomly from Jamul said personally he's alarmed that a large private paramilitary organization plans to set up shop in San Diego's back yard.  

Bothomly : I don't understand why we tolerate the privatization of what have historically been military functions with proper oversight and controls.

The demonstrators were put through metal detectors before entering the county meeting room. As they waited for the county planning officials to present an initial environmental review, Nikki Clay, who Backwater has retained as a lobbyist, explained the company is already planning ways to mitigate possible problems, such as the noise of gunfire.

Clay : Blackwater is planning on putting berms and different sound attenuation -- things on site. So they are already looking for ways to mitigate any sound that would be created. We got to look at all that.

County officials explained their environmental review will take well over a year. The initial document released last night contained some potentially significant impacts, including, noise levels, air quality, over-use of limited groundwater and disturbance to species, including several pairs of golden eagles that live in the vicinity.

One question fielded by Ivan Holler, deputy planning director, was why the county is putting the review process on a fast track.

Holler : Let me clarify this fast track status, what we are trying to do is to take all projects and try to process those as quickly as possible but still maintaining their quality.

Holler explained Blackwater USA's application just happened to be one of the very first projects to be on this fast track time line. The goal is to get the reviews done in 22 months instead of 44. After that the County Supervisors will vote on the project.

Glenn Russell responded to a question about what the county will do to make sure the public stays informed.

Russell : Could you imagine the community not hearing about this project.

Crowd : Yes!

Though Potrero's local planning board voted on the project back in October, for many people , this was the first time they had an inkling of what was in the works.

Russell : Well you are here and we are very pleased that you are here, the word is out.

Outside the meeting, Gordon Hammers, a Potrero planning group member who voted for the project and believes it will bring jobs to the small border community, says he likes what he's seen of the company.

Hammers : From what I've seen so far they are very eager to go the extra mile.

In fact Hammers says, company officials are already brainstorming about ways to deal with the possible disruption to the golden eagles' habitat.

Hammers : In fact they even have a plan to increase the squirrel population to try and feed the eagles better so they'll end up with more eagles.

Blackwater will have to think creatively to overcome the hurdles already emerging in the environmental review. But the company has more than a year to win over its opponents before the supervisors vote on the plan, in 2008 at the soonest.

Alison St John, KPBS News.