Pinon expansion opponents to hold own hearings

Posted by egable on May 19th, 2008 filed in Military

The Pinon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition will give the public an opportunity to comment on the proposed expansion just prior to the Army’s scoping hearings on the new environmental impact statement it is preparing that will evaluate bringing more troops to Fort Carson. Both sets of hearings will be held Tuesday through Thursday in Trinidad, Colorado Springs and La Junta.

Army officials have said the posting of additional troops at Fort Carson has nothing to do with the proposed expansion at the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site, but expansion opponents say the two efforts are inextricably linked.

“By excluding any discussion of PCMS from the scoping hearings, Army officials are attempting to avoid a difficult subject and skirt federal law,” said expansion coalition president Lon Robertson.

Last year’s military appropriations bill outlawed all funding on the proposed expansion.