Looks like New Jersey can't stop BRAC from coming -- contract for lab complex awarded and 32 jobs coming this fall
A $477.5 million contract the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded a Washington firm yesterday to build an an office and laboratory complex at Aberdeen Proving Ground could be the signal that disgruntled New Jersey officials can't stop BRAC from coming. The contract awarded to a joint venture called Tompkins- Turner Grunley/Kinsley, according to the Baltimore Sun, will allow preparations to start for the 5,000 jobs expected to relocate from Fort Monmouth to APG by 2011. An advance team of 32 from New Jersey are expected here sometime this fall.
According to the Sun story:
"New Jersey politicians have sought congressional action to block closure of the 90-year-old fort, and a union representing Monmouth workers filed a federal lawsuit. But the Asbury Park Press reported Wednesday that the union failed in a bid to get an injunction barring the Army from going forward with the construction of the new 'Center of Excellence' complex at Aberdeen."
In other BRAC news, ABC2News.com is reporting that Harford County's Health officer is concerned about the increased traffic BRAC will bring and how that might impact our health.
According to the website:
"Dr. Andrew Bernstein fears those people will get into cars, leading to more air pollution. He's advising county leaders to bring in additional mass transit."
"The location of communities next to large highways or major intersections - there's a direct relationship between that and rates of asthma in children," said Dr. Bernstein."
Good thought. But I'm betting it's going to be hard to keep these 5,000 or more folks out of their cars, asthma or no asthma. Unless, of course, they get that hovercraft up and running. That just might make the commute interesting enough to park and ride.
