Missouri Delegation Urges NGA Director to Consider National Security Response Advantage of Proposed Northside Site

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 23, 2015                                  

MEDIA CONTACT:

STEVEN ENGELHARDT (314) 504-4029

Missouri’s U.S. House Delegation Urges NGA Director to Consider

National Security Response Advantage of Proposed Northside Site

Clay Says Proximity for Vast Majority of Critical Staffers and Easier Access

Gives Northside Site a Significant National Security Advantage

WASHINGTON, DC- All eight members of Missouri’s U.S. House delegation have sent an urgent letter to National Geospatial Intelligence Agency Director Robert Cardillo stressing the national security response advantage of locating the new NGA-West Headquarters in North St. Louis. 

In their bipartisan letter, the Members noted that 70% of current NGA-West employees reside on the Missouri side of the Mississippi River.  As was the case after the recent ISIS attacks in Paris, when an act of terrorism or other national security threat occurs, some NGA employees routinely report back to duty immediately, at all hours. 

Besides the overwhelming economic benefits confirmed by the recent draft Environmental Impact Statement, the easy proximity for the vast majority of critical staffers and much easier access means that the proposed Northside site also offers NGA-West a significant national security response advantage when compared to a potential site in O’Fallon, Illinois.

The congressional delegation letter notes:

“We are all well aware of the importance of homeland security and the critical role that your agency plays in that process.  We also believe that response time is imperative when it comes to thwarting and diffusing actual and/orpotential threats.

As nearly 70 percent of NGA's current 3,200employees are based inMissouri, it is a vital security interest to have employees close and available to stand at the ready in the event of terroristic efforts.

As the commute to St. Clair County is an average of 31.8miles further ,theagency could lose valuable response time in a crisis.

Please see the Executive Summary of the Draft Environmental Impact Study(DEIS) on the final page which finds,"that an average roundtrip commute would increase from 26.4miles to 58.2miles based on current workforce zipcodes."  

As members of Congress, theanticipated delay for employees is  verydisconcerting.  Any lost time has the potential to increase lost lives.

The North St. Louis City Site has unsurpassed accessibility in close proximity to four interstate highways, I-70, l-55 ,I-64and I-44, as well as many arterial roads in the Cityof St .Louis for employees to access in times of crisis.  The St. Clair County Site is only accessible byI-64, with little to no arterial road or alternate access to the site.

In a national emergency, if I-64 is blocked or clogged with traffic, NGA employees have absolutely no way to timely reach their offices and perform the essential national security work they do best.”