Shipyard is $1.3B of Hawai'i's economy
By Derrick DePledge and Dennis Camire The Base Realignment and Closure Commission votes July 19 on whether to add the Pearl Harbor shipyard and certain other bases worldwide to the list of proposed base closings already submitted by the Pentagon. The commission can decline to put either Pearl Harbor or the Portsmouth shipyard on its base-closing list, or it could reduce the functions at Pearl Harbor but not close it, which BRAC Chairman Anthony Principi indicated may be an option. Other key deadlines: • Sept. 8: The commission must give President Bush its findings and list. • Sept. 23: The president must give Congress a report approving or disapproving the commission's recommendations. If Bush approves the list, it becomes binding 45 legislative days later unless Congress enacts joint resolution of disapproval. • Oct. 20: If the president rejects BRAC's recommendations, the commission must submit revised recommendations by this date. • Nov 7: The president must approve the revised list by this date or the process ends. Congress has 45 days to reject the list or it becomes binding.
That draft estimate, prepared by Enterprise Honolulu, an economic development group, comes as Hawai'i's political and business leaders prepare to defend the shipyard next week in Washington, D.C.
The Base Realignment and Closure Commission is expected to decide Tuesday whether to add Pearl to a list of military installations being considered for elimination.
The independent commission, created by Congress to help the Department of Defense consolidate its facilities, is likely to place the most emphasis on the shipyard's strategic military value, rather than its economic importance to Hawai'i. But the potential economic costs of losing the shipyard will likely be a component of Hawai'i's argument, as it has been for other states that are trying to save bases.
"This would be a huge economic disaster for Hawai'i," said Mike Fitzgerald, president and chief executive of Enterprise Honolulu.
The estimate is based on the potential loss of about 5,000 jobs at Pearl and another 4,550 jobs that depend on the shipyard. The group concluded that no existing local industries would be able to provide similar jobs for the shipyard's highly skilled workers.
The commission, after recommendations from the Defense Department, has already placed Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Me., on the base closing list but has asked defense officials to explain why they chose Portsmouth over Pearl. The Navy now relies on four domestic shipyards, Portsmouth and Norfolk, Va., on the Atlantic coast, and Pearl and Puget Sound, in Bremerton, Wash., in the Pacific.
Shutting down Portsmouth could directly eliminate 4,400 shipyard jobs and as many as 7,500 additional jobs in Maine and New Hampshire that rely on the shipyard, government officials there have said.
Recognizing that every state will likely paint their bases as economically vital, Hawai'i leaders will stress the military importance of Pearl in the Pacific, a region where the Pentagon has identified growing security threats.
In a letter to the commission released yesterday, Hawai'i's congressional delegation argued that if Pearl shipyard were closed, the 29 ships that use Pearl Harbor Navy Base as their home port may in some cases have to go to the East Coast for maintenance.
The lawmakers said the commission should temper a desire to save money through efficiency with the overriding need to meet military objectives, a response to suggestions that Portsmouth may be both more efficient and of higher military value than Pearl. Portsmouth works on submarines while Pearl is more of a full-service shipyard.
"This action could severely impact the Navy's readiness and homeland defense capabilities," according to the letter signed by U.S. Sens. Dan Inouye and Daniel Akaka and U.S. Reps. Neil Abercrombie and Ed Case.
Hawai'i lawmakers also wrote that the Pentagon, in its upcoming Quadrennial Defense Review, may recommend expanding its forces in the Pacific, which could increase the need for a shipyard such as Pearl. The Navy is weighing whether to move an aircraft carrier group to the Pacific, possibly to Pearl Harbor.
Inouye, D-Hawai'i, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee's defense subcommittee, said Pearl has "overwhelming strategic value."
Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, said there is a compelling argument for Pearl. "Closing or reducing Pearl Harbor amounts to shifting the Navy's maintenance capacity eastward while we send the fleet westward," he said. "It doesn't make sense strategically or financially."
The lawmakers sent the letter before the commission's hearing in California today to consider the fate of other military bases. Case, D-Hawai'i, said they believed it was important for the commission to understand their rationale "in no uncertain terms" in case Pearl came up during the hearing.
The letter outlines the delegation's main defense of Pearl and will be followed by the state's presentation, which is being shaped by William Cassidy, a lobbyist with Navy ties who has been hired by Hawai'i business leaders, including The Advertiser.
Pentagon officials will answer questions about Pearl before the commission on Monday in Washington, and state leaders anticipate they will continue to support the shipyard. "They will defend Pearl Harbor. It is the party line," said Maj. Gen. Robert G.F. Lee, the state's adjutant general.
Inouye, Gov. Linda Lingle, Mayor Mufi Hannemann and other state leaders are scheduled to meet with members of the commission on Monday in the capital, the day before the commission votes.
"While the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard is vital to our state's job market and overall economy, our meeting in Washington will focus on the shipyard's strategic, long-term value in keeping our nation and the Asia-Pacific region secure," Lingle said in a statement yesterday.
Jim Tollefson, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawai'i, said the state has put its "A Team" on the project.
"We're taking this very seriously," he said.
Advertiser Staff Writers
Closing Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard could leave a $1.3 billion hole in Hawai'i's economy, a financial blow that could take the state as long as a decade, if ever, to recover from.
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