Sens. rally for Kittery shipyard as DOD mulls closures
In a plan to absorb nearly $500 billion in military spending cuts, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has requested Congress to authorize additional base closures under the Base Realignment and Closure process, a move that could affect the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery.
In a joint press release, U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe opposed another round of base closures, saying the move "doesn't make sense for our national defense or for taxpayers," and emphasized the importance of keeping the Kittery shipyard, as well as other state military installations, active. The DOD eyed the shipyard for closure in 2005 until the independent Base Realignment and Closure Commission overturned the recommendation.
And while a decision on whether to move ahead with additional base closures likely won't come this year, one analyst told the Portland Press Herald that, should it happen, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard could be vulnerable. Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute told the paper the need for the shipyard's work on overhauling nuclear submarines will decline in the future because those submarines are beginning to be replaced, and other maintenance work could be relocated to somewhere closer to the Pacific.
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