Some 2,000 people who make Dugway Proving Ground their home may have to move in three years, if a plan to shut down housing on the remote Army installation gains top approval.
Dugway's superiors at the Army's Materiel Command are considering a recommendation to shut down Dugway's English Village, an isolated, self-sustaining town in Tooele County's western desert, by October 1996.If AMC approves the cost-saving measure, it will be kicked up to the Department of the Army for the final OK.
"I have no idea when that could happen," Dugway spokeswoman Melynda Petrie said of the possible final approval. "In this day and age of defense, things change day-to-day and anything could happen."
Dugway residents, who were to meet Tuesday night for a briefing on the proposal, hope it never happens.
"Speaking as a resident and not an official spokesperson, I would be disappointed," said Petrie, an East Coast native who relishes the quiet small-town atmosphere of Dugway. "Even though final approval has not yet been given, it is definitely a major concern, and understandably morale is somewhat low."
If the closure is approved, Dugway would be downgraded from an installation to test facility, reducing the civilian defense work force from 582 jobs to 375. Defense testing of chemical and biological agents would continue with a scaled back work force, Petrie said, along with other Army materiel testing and its landing strip for Air Force support.
"We understand it doesn't mean a big lose of jobs, but it is another indicator" that the federal government is serious about cutting back defense spending, said Charlie Johnson, Gov. Mike Leavitt's chief of staff.
Petrie said the Army anticipates retirements and normal attrition will take care of the job cutbacks. But nothing can make up for the 80-mile commute Petrie and others will have to make if the proposal is approved.
About 1,100 military, civilian defense and private contractors work at Dugway. About two-thirds of those workers already commute to their jobs. Along with their spouses and children, those choosing to live on-base in English Village number about 2,000.
In addition to defense workers living on base, the move would also displace hundreds of schoolchildren, their teachers and the other private contractors providing services to English Village residents.
Since the Department of Defense opened the proving ground for weapons testing in World War II, a complete town has evolved on the base with schools, stores, gas station, water, sewer, golf course and other amenities. In the past five years, more than $7 million has been spent on new community and fitness centers.
By mothballing the town, the Army expects to save $6 million annually.
Petrie said shutting down residential housing and services was among several options, including complete closure, that Dugway Commander Col. James R. King was asked to submit in a quest to cut costs in the Army's Testing and Evaluation Command.
A proposal to raise Dugway's revenue by taking over base operations at nearby Tooele Army Depot, which is being drastically scaled back from a maintenance depot to a weapons storage facility, was rejected by Army officials, Petrie said.
Another cost-saving proposal to move Dugway's small cache of chemical weapons to Tooele for storage and destruction is still under consideration, she said.