I didn't have the chance to comment on the EA and I wish I had. There's a lot of problems with that EA - it really is poorly written and it looks like it was to be part of a strategy to get the public to just go along with things. There were many statements that were not further analyzed - you just can't mention other clients and let it go at that. Those other clients and their actions must be analyzed. IT'S REQUIRED by law!

Whew - I noticed in the Dropzone EA that there were no alternatives - it was either Roswell or here. That is absolute bogus as there are at least 12 full blown dropzones on White Sands Missile Range and probably at least 15 on McGregor Range (Fort Bliss 300,000-acre manuever area). I know this because while in the 3d Cavalry and later the 1st ADA Training Brigade at Fort Bliss, we were involved in operations at most of them - 8+ years out in those particular boonies. It only takes a C-130 a few more minutes to get to White Sands or McGregor Range from Socorro at cruising speed. At the south end of McGregor, there is this wonderful Army airfield called Biggs. Coordination to use them is not necessarily a big deal - you just work with Range Control and their respective environmental shops.

I can't see how the EA author(s) could not have known that, and of course they did - or they are incompetent, and that would be LIE #1 or (Let's Just Leave Out Certain Critical Facts Because We Think People Are Stupid #1). SOMEONE NEEDS TO TURNS THOSE YAHOOS OVER TO THE COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL EQUALITY to learn how to write an EA, or be advised to never to write one again. They could have easily gotten good advice locally: the people around these parts who know how to write EAs are U.S. Army/White Sands, Forest Service and BLM.

Also on EAs, they are NEVER final - if they are faulty, or there is significant public outcry, then they can and should be amended or re-written. The main reason they are done is to determine if the more formal environmental impact statement (EIS) is needed. When it comes to explosives - the chemicals in modern explosives are bad. They work very well but are very bad in groundwater, etc. Poor Iraq, so much stuff has been set off there between us and the Iraqi guerillas that they are going to have contamination problems for years to come.

You Socorroans better get off your rear ends and get an EIS going because if you don't you will regret it - especially if the groundwater gets contaminated. These yahoos are up to something a little bigger, and kind of hidden, part of the Military-Industrial Complex, which cares nothing for the environment. I can see they have a perfect arrangement here, weapons development and a research college. Just need to be able to step out the backdoor to see the effects, which we hear and feel often. They don't want to have to drive or fly a short distance east. Pretty lame and lazy.

If you want more room, do the environmental document right and thorough. If you find this is really not a good place because you may endanger the community that appears to be in your back pocket, then you responsibly go elsewhere, like White Sands - a 30 minute drive - or McGregor Range where those areas have already been cleared for that work.