Camden County is about to buy land for development of a launching pad for space vehicles. This issue of the Peach explores the concerns of some residents about the project. As always, feel free to forward this issue to anyone who might be interested in signing up for other bi-weekly issues. There is no cost, and we never use our list for any other purpose. 

In the extreme southeast corner of Georgia, Camden County voters will go to polls today through March 8 to vote on whether to repeal the actions of their commissioners to purchase property to build a spaceport. The spaceport notion originally surfaced almost seven years ago. At first, a space launch facility might have seemed like a good idea, but as Camden County residents learned more about the project, doubts set in. A number of issues have surfaced that indicate this project may not be ready to launch. 

Camden County has a population just shy of 55,000, and grew by almost 8% in the last decade. It includes the cities of St. Marys, Kingsland, and Woodbine, its county seat. It is the seventh largest Georgia county in square miles. Many Georgians know this area because St. Marys is the departure point to visit Cumberland Island, Georgia’s largest and most southern barrier island and site of Cumberland Island National Seashore. As with much of our 100 miles of coast, Camden County, is a beautiful live oak-shaded area, with slow moving rivers and evocative marshlands lining the coastline. It is also the site of one of the worst industrial accidents in the U.S. Fifty years ago the Thiokol Chemical Co., which made trip flares for use in the Vietnam War, suffered a massive chemical explosion, killing 29 workers, mostly women of color. Today, Camden County is on the verge of purchasing from Union Carbide almost 5,000 acres that includes some of the former Thiokol land to develop the spaceport. 

The county has long had an interest in space launches. It was the runner-up to Cape Canaveral for the Apollo moon program in the 1960s; the King’s Bay Naval Submarine Base is located in the county. Like most counties, especially rural ones, Camden County is always looking for economic development projects, so the idea of a spaceport is appealing.

The Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, is the best known spaceport in the U.S. But other spaceports serve both government and private commercial launches. There are 35 facilities worldwide that can launch spacecraft or satellites into orbit or sub-orbit. Of these,13 FAA-licensed spaceport launch sites are in the U.S. These facilities have different capacities and capabilities. And most significantly for Camden, these sites have experienced different levels of financial success. Originally the purview only of the government, commercial investment in space, including space tourism, is relatively new. Some worry our country is already saturated with too many spaceports, and too little demand for launches. This article provides some detail about the supply and demand of spaceports, including an example of the nearby spaceport that Jacksonville, Florida, added onto its existing airport. It has not yet had its first launch in the 12 years since receiving FAA approval.

Even if the market could support another spaceport, there are a number of concerns about the site in Camden County. First, the Union Carbide site under consideration for purchase is heavily polluted. It includes a hazardous waste site. Since the mid 1960s, the property the county proposes to buy and adjacent acreage has been used for military ordnance, pesticides and speciality chemicals. Citizens fear any construction for the spaceport on this site will stir up and release hazardous pollutants into the air and water. 

Camden’s proposed site is the only spaceport in the U.S. that would be launching over an occupied area. The risk of rocket launch failures is expected to be around 20% for the type of rockets the FAA has approved for Camden County. Because of this risk, residents within the launch path would be required to evacuate or sign a release for each launch. 

This evacuation requirement would adversely impact the National Park Service’s Cumberland Island National Seashore. Since the FAA has approved up to 12 launches per year, a launch “window” could average a week each month. Cumberland Island would have to be off limits to visitors during planned launches. Such a requirement would severely limit access to this pristine and popular island. The National Park Service, in a 2015 letter giving comments to the Environmental Impact Statement for this spaceport, outlined the difficulties of evacuations of the island and asked that alternative sites be considered before FAA approval is issued. There is no indication that this was ever done.

“The logistics of evacuating or restricting access to Cumberland seems nearly impossible and would prohibit the purpose of the park to serve the public,” says David Kyler, co-director of Georgia’s Center for a Sustainable Coast. An additional risk to Camden residents and Cumberland Island is the impact of noise, vibrations, and fuel releases and the danger of falling debris from rocket launches. 

During public consideration of the proposed spaceport, advocacy groups and citizens have been concerned about the lack of transparency, particularly the lack of public hearings or budget projections for the project. The county has said they are not required to disclose details about real estate transactions. “We have been asking Camden County for information regarding the spaceport project since 2016. Each request is met with the same response from the county,” says Megan Desrosiers, president of the environmental group One Hundred Miles. “They claim that all information is exempt from GORA [Georgia Open Records Act] because of the real estate exemption. Then in 2019, we filed a lawsuit to challenge the county’s interpretation of GORA. A judge heard arguments in 2021, and we are still awaiting a ruling in the case.”

In early 2000, some Camden residents began a petition process allowed under the Georgia Constitution calling for a vote to reverse an action of a county commission. Observers are not aware of this provision ever being used in any Georgia county. More than the required 10% of active voters in the county signed a petition calling for a county-wide vote. In late 2021, the Camden County probate judge declared that the petitioners had collected more than enough signatures for a vote to take place. 

Also, in late 2021, the county received a license from the FAA for a spaceport, and the commissioners passed a resolution to exercise a purchase option on the Union Carbide property for an undisclosed amount of taxpayer money. This is the action that could be rescinded by this referendum vote culminating on March 8. A YES vote would rescind Camden County’s resolution to purchase the Union Carbide property. 

Last week Camden County filed a complaint in Superior Court asking that the March referendum be canceled. It’s not clear whether this referendum, if it proceeds, will succeed in prohibiting the purchase of the property. And, even then, would this be the death knell of the spaceport proposal? 

One thing seems clear about this fight. “It’s about democracy, and the citizens exercising a constitutional right,” says Desrosiers. “There’s a whole bunch of people in this fight who are the grassroots warriors, standing on the street corners holding signs saying vote yes on March 8.” 

“This spaceport is really a pie in the sky proposal,” Kyler concludes.  “Taxpayers would be far better served by the county improving services rather than chasing after this spaceport idea.”

What I'm Reading: I read with dismay this New Yorker article about Ginni Thomas and her active role in the January 6 incursion and right-wing politics. She is the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who is a native son of Georgia. A bill in our legislature SB 326 has passed the Senate and will be considered by the House soon to install in the Capitol a statue honoring Judge Thomas. It might be wise to let the January 6 investigation finish before deciding on a statue. It would be pretty heavy to remove. 

Krista Brewer is a native Atlantan who has a professional background in writing, reporting and editing. For several decades she has closely followed Georgia politics, focusing on topics such as healthcare, voting and immigrant rights, and budget and environmental issues. She is active on Twitter and invites readers to follow her @KristaRBrewer