Guest column: Camden Spaceport may impact environment

Camden County is on the verge of a big conversation.

The county will partner with the Federal Aviation Authority to evaluate the potential costs and benefits of subsidizing the development of a multi-million dollar spaceport.

As officials contemplate spending millions of tax dollars on this new facility, we must take our head out of the clouds and impartially evaluate the project's true costs and benefits.

There is a big black hole where specific details should be. about the Camden County Spaceport. We can look to other facilities to understand the potential impact on coastal Georgia.

Currently, there are 10 commercially operated launch sites in the United States. While they are all different, there are common guidelines and impacts.

CLEARING AIR, LAND AND WATER

Launching rockets is risky business. On good days, rockets launched vertically shed components as they climb higher into the atmosphere. On bad days, catastrophic failure could cause an entire spacecraft to crash. For these reasons, launch sites are typically located far away from population centers. The FAA requires air, land and maritime exclusion zones to ensure public safety.

At the Shiloh Launch Complex, a new spaceport proposed for the north end of the Kennedy Space Center near Daytona Beach, operators will be required to institute a 2.5 mile overflight exclusion zone for every launch. These 2.5 miles will extend in all directions on either side of the vehicle flight direction until the spacecraft is cleared.

In Camden County, space crafts would not be launched directly over the Atlantic Ocean. Instead, they would take off on an unknown trajectory over the Intracoastal Waterway. Launches could lead to the evacuation of Little Cumberland and parts of Jekyll and Cumberland islands.

COOLING OUR JETS.

Launch facilities use a lot of water. To prevent fires and muffle sound energy, more than 1 million gallons are typically needed during each rocket launch. It is unknown whether the necessary water would come from the Satilla River or an underground aquifer. Either way, Camden County residents should remain concerned about the impact these withdrawals will have on our drinking water supplies and the water quality of our cherished Satilla River.

GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR

The 4,000-acre site currently under contract for the spaceport's purchase and construction is highly contaminated with hazardous waste and munitions. Once the site is purchased, Camden County and its taxpayers will become partially liable for the clean up.

One thing is clear: For better or worse, this project has the potential to significantly and permanently change Georgia's coast as we know it. As the conversation about the spaceport heats up in the coming months, I urge Camden County residents and friends of our Georgia coast to participate in the discussion. By becoming informed about the project's costs and benefits today, we can all have a positive impact on our coast's future.

Megan Desrosiers is the executive director of One Hundred Miles, an organization dedicated to preserving, protecting and enhancing Georgia's 100-mile coast.