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Also in the letter, to be sent to the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs in Lansing, commissioners agreed to a suggested by district No. 4 commissioner Alan McCullen that Camp Grayling reinstitute a citizens advisory committee, which in the past included Kalkaska County residents.

Bringing the matter before commissioners was Garfield Township resident Dugald E. Jordan, who is retired from the US Army. Jordan had received a letter from officials seeking public comment on the proposed rocket launch and responded with five pages of observations against the matter.

"This is not a safe system,Ó Jordan said, adding there were several residential homes and farms in the immediate area of the exercise. "They have said they will close all of the roads in the area, but there are 30-some plus roads there,Ó he said.

"They have also said there will be no oil well work and they will be scattering over 200 rockets to be fired each summer. These are like a jet engine going off.Ó

In his letter to the department, Jordan said the proposal was brought forth initially in 2004, but was rejected due to unfavorable public opinion.

"What part of Ôwe as residents around the area do no want this activity to occur' does Camp Grayling NOT understand,Ó he wrote in his letter. According to Jordan, the 1972 PBB burial put is located in direct line with the firing of the rocks, adding that if a misfire should occur, it could impact the fragile surface liner and expose the contamination to the elements.

By doing this it would cause environmental harm to groundwater and existing wildlife and vegetation, not to mention the residents that rely on the groundwater for their homes.

"The burial site was fenced after a military vehicle decided to drive across and broke through the surface liner,Ó Jordan wrote. "If a rocket were to penetrate the liner it would be impossible to remove, due to the fragile surface and no persons are allowed to enter this site for any reason. To take the risk of exposing the residents, environment, watershed, etc., to this risk is an unacceptable chance that need not be taken.Ó

Jordan said the public comment period for the proposal ends on April 20 and urged commissioners to express their concerns regarding this matter as well.

"The township is also against it,Ó he said. "The land they are proposing to use was leased to them by the state Department of Natural Resources and it has never been an active live range since it was leased to them.Ó Jordan said they already are shooting these rockets within the camp itself, but can't do so under this proposal due to what was termed scheduling conflicts.

"This was originally addressed in 2004 and it was turned down,Ó Jordan said. "They came back and are trying again and again for it.Ó

Other concerns raised by Jordan in his letter included the following:

¥ In the draft proposal, it basically explains in a nutshell that the reason for this proposal is to eliminate scheduling conflicts. Simply, the units needing to utilize the area need to be scheduled at different times, the armor battalion went to a threeweek annual training to complete their gunnery, why then does Camp Grayling not schedule the 1/182nd at a different time? Annual training periods can be conducted May through September, that in quick math equals 20 weeks, minus three for the armor that gives 17 available weeks to shoot the 108 rockets into a drop zone. Allowing the 1/182nd to conduct their annual training at a different time would eliminate scheduling conflicts, which would eliminate the problems associated with the public addressed within this proposal. If safety and security were a concern, they would increase two fold at an unsecure location in the south camp.

¥ In the proposal it states that "observations from horses and other domesticated animals in this area will be recorded. How? Does this mean that the military will have a soldier sitting in my pasture? One for each animal species? To explain to the nature of the horse, it's first instinct to danger is that of flight (run) it would be to late if an incident were to occur with a horse in either the firing or impact location. If a horse runs to escape its fears, fences will not stop them, how would the danger be stopped? As a horse owner, am I responsible for the animal(s) if they are loose, both financially and legally. I suppose if such an incident were to occur, would the military take the blame or simply say Ôwe're sorry.' A reference to this issue in 1992, the 10th special forces conducted a training exercise near our residence, due to error one of our horses went through the fence, resulting in being cut, fence damage and veterinary expenses. A major from the 10th stated to myself, Ôif we knew horses were here we would not have conducted this exercise.' Why are statements like this not even addressed. Camp Grayling does not care about the animals nor the residents in the area, they do not live here!Ó

¥ Jordan stated he is in support of the current management agreement to 2014 with no modifications, but added this proposal can't be fixed with creative scheduling and management, with no increase in public resentment toward the National Guard and Camp Grayling.

"The first thing I think we ought to do is enter his letter and the other information into the record and since the county is on a short timeframe for this we ought to send a letter as well,Ó McCullen said. "It is obvious to me that this is a safety thing and I think we ought to send a letter to the department stating we are against this for the proposed safety factors. At one time, Camp Grayling did have a citizens advisory committee and that advisory committee helped with the lines of communication. If this had happened we would have probably known about this weeks or months ago and it could have been waylaid.Ó McCullen requested the committee be reinstituted.

"This would be a good first line of communication. I think this is something that we definitely need to make our voice heard on,Ó he said. Commissioners agreed with his stance and voted unanimously to draft such a statement.

"Camp Grayling needs to realize that it is the people of the community that support comes from, to encroach on areas that the residents chose for a reason need to remain for that reason,Ó Jordan wrote.

Editor's Note: Copies of the draft environmental assessment can be reviewed at the Camp Grayling environmental office, Building 30, Camp Grayling, during normal business hours. The assessment is also available at the Crawford County Public Library, 201 Plum Street in Grayling. Library hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. This assessment will be available for review until April 20. Comments should be sent to Michigan Army National Guard, Attention Public Affairs Officer, 2500 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, Mich., 48913. Questions may be directed to Maj. Dawn Dancer, Public Affairs Officer, Headquarters, Michigan Army National Guard at 517-483-5600.