Thread: AZ-Border towers' fate on hold, not quashed

Border towers' fate on hold, not quashed
By Brady McCombs
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.21.2008
The Interior Department has not rejected Homeland Security's petition to use its land for virtual fence towers — its agencies are still reviewing the request.
Earlier this week, Homeland Security officials said they had to bring work on virtual fences to a halt because Interior had not granted it permission needed to proceed. That's true, but it doesn't tell the entire story.
Homeland Security submitted requests to place towers on two Arizona public borderlands July 10 — just five days before it planned to begin construction, said Chris Paolino, spokesman for the Interior Department in Washington, D.C.
It normally takes 60 to 90 days to review such requests and determine whether the proposed actions are in compliance with the mission of the public lands, he said. Interior had only 41 days with the request.
"We are going to get it done as early as we can, but we want to complete a full review," Paolino said. "We don't want to cut any corners."
The two requests ask for permission to put towers on Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge southwest of Tucson near Sasabe, managed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife; and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Southwestern Arizona, managed by National Park Service, Paolino said.
Homeland Security has also filed a request with the Bureau of Land Management to use land near Ajo for two towers, but officials submitted that request much earlier, on May 29, said Joanie Losacco, acting manager of the BLM Phoenix district.
The surveillance and communications towers that form the backbone of the virtual fence are not covered by a waiver created in the 2005 Real ID Act, which allows Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to bypass environmental laws for border security projects.
That means Homeland Security has no choice but to wait for the decision from Interior Department agencies that manage the borderlands on which it wants to place towers.
On Friday, U.S. Fish and Wildlife is planning to release its initial decision regarding five proposed towers on Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, said Fish and Wildlife spokes-man Jose Viramontes.
The document, called a draft compatibility determination, will be followed by a 14-day public comment period that closes Sept. 5, Viramontes said. Fish and Wildlife officials hope to issue the final determination Sept. 8, he said.
BLM officials are waiting for a final environmental assessment from Homeland Security, said Teri Raml, acting international border coordinator for the agency.
Until they have that, they can't move forward in determining whether they'll approve the request, she said.
Calls to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument were not returned Wednesday, and it remains unclear at what stage monument officials are in determining whether to allow the towers.
Paolino said the Interior Department, which manages 40 percent of land on the U.S. Southwest border, is supportive of Homeland Security's efforts to secure the border. But, the department must also make sure border security projects don't harm public lands, he said.
Homeland Security has plans for two virtual fence projects along Arizona's stretch of the U.S.-Mexican border.
The first project, dubbed Tucson West, was set to begin July 15. It called for the construction of 45 new surveillance towers and the upgrade of 12 existing ones to create a virtual fence targeting 81 miles of Arizona's border between Sasabe and a point south of Sierra Vista.
The second project, called Ajo-1, was going to come on its heels with a grid of 11 towers in Southwestern Arizona, including seven in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
In the past week, Homeland Security officials informed Boeing Co., the lead contractor on the virtual fences, it was to suspend activities until further notice, causing one subcontractor to lay off 40 people the company had hired and trained.
No date has been set to resume work.
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