OXNARD : Army’s Plan to Test Missiles Questioned

A small group of environmentalists and commercial fishing interests Tuesday questioned a U. S. Army plan to test the next generation of Patriot missiles by firing them at target missiles over the Pacific Ocean.

The testing would involve 100 missile launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base and San Nicolas and San Clemente islands between 1994 and 2000, U. S. Army Major Thomas McWhorter said at a hearing in Oxnard.

“The testing will have a hell of an influence on fishing out there,” said Terrell Cryer of the Ventura County Commercial Fisherman’s Assn. “It will affect the small fishermen like myself.”

Alan Godley of the Earth Island Institute opposed the Army’s plans to test missiles over ocean waters rich with marine mammals. “Why does it have to be conducted over one of the most pristine environments in the world?” he asked.

Part of the Army’s environmental review of the proposed tests, the hearing was held to solicit public reaction to the use of the offshore testing range, the only California site of four under consideration.

If the testing is conducted from what the Army calls the Western Range, unarmed target missiles would be launched from ships hundreds of miles off the Southern California coast. The Army would then fire several types of advanced interceptor missiles at the targets from Vandenberg and the two islands. Another test would include the firing of a surface-to-surface missile from Vandenberg to San Clemente Island.

To prevent harming the islands’ rich marine mammal populations, McWhorter said the tests would not be conducted during the breeding season.

The 45-day comment period on the preliminary environmental impact statement expires March 28. Comments should be sent to David Hasley, U. S. Army Space and Strategic Defense Command, Attn: CSSD-EN-V, P.O. Box 1500, Huntsville, AL 35807-3801. For information, call (800) 603-3030.