Blackwater Gets Go-Ahead for Navy Facility

Federal District Judge Marilyn Huff has ordered the City of San Diego to issue Blackwater Worldwide the permits to open its new training facility, the Associated Press reports. Blackwater sued after the city refused to issue the permits, in spite of the fact that the conditions had been met.

Huff found that other firing range operators in the city had not been required to undergo similar reviews.

Classes for Navy sailors will begin Thursday, according to Brian Bonfiglio, a Blackwater executive overseeing the project. They were originally set to begin at the center Monday but were suspended pending the judge's ruling.

The facility will be used strictly to train US Navy personnel in small arms, a growing concern to the Navy since the bombing of the USS Cole, diagrammed below.(Click the image to see a larger version)

Blackwater Won't Build in Potrero

Blackwater's opponents are rejoicing that the company is not going ahead with a planned facility on a site in Potrero, CA (pictured). What caused the private security contrator to change its mind? Fiery environmentalists? Political protesters? Hippie pacifists? Actually, it was the acoustics.

"Recent noise tests indicated that sound levels in the bowl-shaped valley exceeded the county limits and would have been prohibitively expensive to fix," the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

"The decision was ultimately made yesterday based on the fact that there was no feasible mitigation with regard to our noise tests," Brian Bonfiglio, Blackwater vice president, told the Associated Press "You'd basically have to put roofs on every single range. It's not workable."

"Blackwater has maintained its position from the very beginning that if we could not meet or exceed (California) and San Diego County guidelines that we would not proceed, and we are keeping to that commitment," Bonfiglio was reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune as saying.

Still, some are tempted to read more into the story. A source close to Blackwater lays these notions to rest: "The company decided for business reasons that the site wasn't worth the planned investment. It could have countered the protesters and challenged the recall vote with a very modest outlay, but opted out completely. [Blackwater] requires either more land or a topography surrounded by high and steep hills to contain the shooting noise.... For the protesters to claim victory is like claiming credit for the sunrise."