Awarding of a construction contract for a multi-million-dollar missile launching facility at the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility has been delayed a bit. A construction contract for the Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) facilities at Barking Sands on
Awarding of a construction contract for a multi-million-dollar missile launching facility at the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility has been delayed a bit.
A construction contract for the Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) facilities at Barking Sands on the Westside was expected to be awarded last month.
But the award has been pushed back, probably to this month or March, according to representatives of the federal Missile Defense Agency.
The agency is responding to concerns voiced by eight interested parties as contained in written responses to an environmental assessment (EA) on the THAAD program at Barking Sands, an MDA spokesman said.
The draft THAAD environmental assessment and a finding of no significant environmental impact were released late last year, and by the end of the public review period last month just eight people had written concerns about the project, the spokesman said.
MDA officials last month began work to compile, summarize and respond to public comments made by eight interested parties, to ensure their comments are addressed, he said.
Resolution of all comments is expected early this month, and if the MDA director is satisfied that public comments have been adequately addressed, he will sign the statement of no significant environmental impact, the MDA spokesman continued.
MDA representatives are committed to ensuring proper National Environmental Policy Act analysis is completed as required before any THAAD facility construction work is awarded, the MDA spokesman added.
“We do not expect much time to pass between completion of the THAAD EA and the award of a construction contract,” the MDA spokesman said.
