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| Photo Credit: AP. |
A Georgia county has filed a lawsuit to force a company to sell land on which the county plans to build a Launchpad for commercial rockets.
In a
statement Thursday, Commissioners in coastal Camden County said that Union
Carbide Co.’s refusal to sell the 4,000 acre (1,600 hectare) property “will
cause the County the loss of the Spaceport Project as well as an enormous
financial loss in excess of $11 million.,” The Associated Press reports.
Camden County seeks to build Spaceport Camden to launch satellites
County
officials have sought to license and build Spaceport Camden, a site for
launching satellites into space, a move criticized by opponents who argue the
projects would pose safety and environmental risks that outweigh any economic
benefits, according to The Associated Press. In a referendum conducted by the
County in March, majority of residents voted to kill the land deal.
The county
filed a civil suit Wednesday in Camden County Superior Court in hopes of
keeping the spaceport project alive arguing that the company still has a “contractual obligation to sell the property,”
according to The Associated Press.
“The County
believes that Union Carbide’s real reason for repudiating the contract had
nothing to do with the referendum but was instead to allow Union Carbide to
make more money on the property than what the County had agreed to pay,” the
commissioners’ statement said. “That is not a legitimate reason for repudiating
a contract.”
In 2015, the
county government entered into an option agreement with the company to buy the
land once the county obtained a spaceport operator license from the Federal
Aviation Administration.
The FAA
awarded the license so sought in December but the county commissioners could
not close on the land after opponents of the project forced a referendum on the
project by gathering more than 3,500 petition signatures, according to the
Associated Press. In March, 72% of residents cast ballots to block the deal.
Spaceport will bring economic growth - Commissioners
Commissioners argue the project would bring economic growth from rocket launches, attracting related industries and tourists to the area.
Critics fear
the exploding rockets after launch could rain fiery debris onto Little
Cumberland Island and neighboring Cumberland Island, a federally protected
wilderness visited by about 60,000 tourists each year, according to The
Associated Press.