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A4 U.S. NEWS
Friday 29 July 2022
Georgia county files suit to force land sale for spaceport

By RUSS BYNUM nity of 55,000 people on the
Associated Press Georgia-Florida line.
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A Opponents say building
Georgia county has filed the spaceport on an in-
a lawsuit seeking to force dustrial plot formerly used
a company to sell land on to manufacture pesticides
which the county has long and munitions would pose
planned to build a launch- potential hazards.
pad for commercial rock- Critics, including the Na-
ets. tional Park Service, have
Commissioners in coastal said rockets exploding soon
Camden County said in a after launch could rain fi-
statement Thursday that ery debris onto Little Cum-
Union Carbide Co.'s refusal berland Island, which has
to sell the 4,000 acre (1,600 about 40 private homes,
hectare) property, if al- and neighboring Cumber-
lowed to stand, "will cause land Island, a federally pro-
the County the loss of the tected wilderness visited by
Spaceport Project as well about 60,000 tourists each
as an enormous financial This artist's sketch provided by Spaceport Camden shows the launch pad complex of the pro- year.
loss in excess of $11 million." posed Spaceport Camden in Camden County, Ga. County commissioners
County officials have spent Associated Press hired consultants to study
that sum over the past de- potential threats to the is-
cade seeking to license on the property. The com- stead to allow Union Car- ation Administration. land. Their report conclud-
and build Spaceport Cam- pany said last week that bide to make more money The FAA awarded the li- ed that "after routine oper-
den, a site for launching the deal was off because it on the property than what cense in December. But ational risk mitigations are
satellites into space. Oppo- had been "repudiated" by the County had agreed to before county commission- applied the overall risk for
nents say the project would voters. pay," the commissioners' ers could close on the land, fire to Cumberland Island
pose safety and environ- The county filed a civil suit statement said. "That is not opponents forced a refer- from a failed rocket launch
mental risks that outweigh Wednesday in Camden a legitimate reason for re- endum on the project by was found to be so low as
any economic benefits. County Superior Court pudiating a contract." gathering more than 3,500 to not be credible."
The county held a referen- in hopes of keeping the Union Carbide did not im- petition signatures. The Meanwhile, county officials
dum in March in which a spaceport project alive. mediately respond to an project was put to a vote in are trying to have the ref-
large majority voted to kill Commissioners said the email message seeking March, and 72% cast bal- erendum declared invalid
the land deal. company still has a "con- comment. lots to block the deal. by the Georgia Supreme
Commissioners opted to tractual obligation to sell The county government in Commissioners have in- Court. Their legal appeal
disregard the vote, which the property." 2015 entered into an op- sisted the spaceport proj- argues that Georgia's con-
they contend violated "The County believes that tion agreement with the ect would bring economic stitution doesn't allow vot-
Georgia's constitution. Union Carbide's real reason company to buy the land growth not just from rocket ers to veto government
But Union Carbide balked for repudiating the con- once the county obtained launches, but also by at- projects such as the space-
at the county's efforts to tract had nothing to do with a spaceport operator li- tracting related industries port. The court is scheduled
move forward with closing the referendum but was in- cense from the Federal Avi- and tourists to the commu- to hear the case Aug. 23.q

Los Angeles County avoids new mask rule as COVID stabilizes

county could again require While masks won't be re- BA.5 variant, which now
face coverings if trends in quired in most indoor spac- accounts for a majority of
hospital admissions contin- es, Ferrer reminded resi- cases.
ued under criteria set by dents that face coverings It has shown a remarkable
the U.S. Centers for Disease are an effective tool to re- ability to get around the
Control and Prevention. duce spread. protection offered by vac-
On Thursday, she said the As it has for most of the cination.
county managed to dodge pandemic, LA County will It's still unclear what en-
imposition of the broad still require masks in some forcement of the health or-
mask rule. The county re- indoor spaces, including der might have looked like.
mains at the "high" CDC health care facilities, Metro Under past mandates, no
level of community trans- trains and buses, airports, individuals were cited for
mission, but it could drop to jails and homeless shelters. refusing masks, and officials
"medium" in coming weeks. The new mandate, which favored educating people
Ferrer made the announce- would have gone into ef- over issuing citations and
Travelers wear masks inside Union Station Thursday, July 28, ment during a briefing at fect Friday, would have fines.
2022, in Los Angeles. Associated Press which she displayed flat expanded the requirement Critics of a new mask rule
Associated Press and declining data graphs. to all indoor public spaces, have said they don't be-
"As you can see, there's including shared offices, lieve it would decrease or
By CHRISTOPHER WEBER fections and rates of hospi- been a fairly steady de- manufacturing facilities, stop transmission rates. Los
Associated Press talizations have stabilized, cline in cases since July 23, warehouses, retail stores, Angeles County Supervi-
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los a top health official said potentially signaling the restaurants and bars, the- sor Kathryn Barger said she
Angeles County dropped Thursday. beginning of a downward aters and schools. was pleased with Ferrer's
a plan to impose a univer- Health director Barbara Fer- trend in cases," she said. Nationwide, the latest CO- announcement because
sal indoor mask mandate rer said two weeks ago that Hospitalizations are also VID-19 surge is driven by "unenforceable mandates
this week as COVID-19 in- the nation's most populous down. the highly transmissible don't work."q