http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metr ... 3wind.html

By Anne Krueger
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
July 3, 2007

A training camp for members of law enforcement and the military is being proposed in Imperial County that opponents say is disturbingly similar to a facility planned for the backcountry community of Potrero.

The companies behind both projects are led by former Navy SEALs, but their officials insist the similarities end there.

Wind Zero wants to build a 963-acre facility near Ocotillo, about 70 miles east of San Diego. The startup company has about 10 investors and is led by Brandon Webb, a San Diegan who said he left the Navy about a year and a half ago when he saw a need for more military training centers.

Blackwater USA, a North Carolina-based company that wants to build a facility on 824 acres in Potrero, is a major defense contractor whose millionaire owner, Erik Prince, is a former Navy SEAL.

Jeanette Hartman, chairwoman of the Sierra Club's land-use committee, is among those who believe Blackwater is secretly pushing the Ocotillo plan in case the Potrero proposal is denied.

But a search of public records showed no link, and Hartman said she has not found any records to back up her claim.

Webb and Brian Bonfiglio, a Blackwater USA vice president, say Blackwater is not involved with Wind Zero or its proposal. Bonfiglio said the Ocotillo facility would be too far away to compete for business, but he'd prefer it not be built.

“There is no connection,â€