Camden County officials may resort to flying drones around a proposed spaceport on launch days to make sure there aren't too many people nearby to launch safely.
"If needed, fixed wing and/or drone aircraft (appropriately authorized under FAA rules) will also be utilized," the county's consultant wrote in its revised application to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA requires accurate population counts on Cumberland Island and Little Cumberland Island on launch day, County Administrator Steve Howard wrote in an email to the Savannah Morning News. On Little Cumberland, where there are private homes, Camden would rather get those numbers from the Little Cumberland Island Home Association, but isn't sure it can.
"The proposed use of drones was one tool offered to the FAA to provide population counts in the event that LCIHA was unwilling to provide Camden County an estimate on the number of active habitants on LCI prior to a launch," Howard wrote.
"The use of this tool would only be proposed for cases where there may be marginal data close to thresholds, or emergency situations."
Spaceport Camden plans to launch rockets from an abandoned industrial site on the mainland over nearby residences on Little Cumberland Island and over Cumberland Island National Seashore, a proposal that some residents and park supporters oppose as unsafe. There are 100 2-acre lots and 46 cottages on Little Cumberland.
The county has spent more than $8 million so far on the proposed spaceport. The FAA had almost completed a review of a draft Environmental Impact Statement for the project in December when Camden requested that the FAA narrow the application to include the operation of only small launch vehicles rather than the medium-large ones that were originally requested.
"The individual risk of injury to the uninvolved public must have a probability of less than one in a million before the FAA will permit a launch of Spaceport Camden," Howard wrote.
While Camden County claims launches can be conducted safely based on both typical and inflated population scenarios on Cumberland and Little Cumberland, the FAA has not publicly confirmed it, said Kevin Lang, an Athens-based attorney whose family has a home on Little Cumberland.
"Think about the reason they're counting. It makes it even more bizarre," he said. "They're counting because if there are one too many of us, then they can't launch a rocket. The reason they're counting us is because they have to comply with FAA regulations on safety. And they're counting to confirm that there aren't too many of us that they could get burned, hit by debris, injured or otherwise injured."
Lang pointed to a launch that was scrubbed in Kodiak, Alaska, recently "because a single boat ventured out into the downrange hazard zone."
"It continues to really confuse us as to how there can be the claim that there can be 460 people on LCI during the launch of the Falcon 9 (rocket) and 2,000 people for the launch of a smaller rocket," Lang said. "That's just not consistent with how anyone else handles safety."
Even if the spaceport could meet the risk criteria for a license, Lang questions the commercial viability of the site. With inhabited private property in the nearby downrange the cost to insure a launch could be prohibitive, he said.
"That's potentially 2,000 wrongful death claims and 48 cottages that all are really expensive to rebuild, because they're on an island," he said.
Lang said the biggest concern for those on the islands is not getting struck by a piece of rocket debris, but facing a fire started by burning debris.
"The one in a million threshold mentioned by Camden County only deals with inert debris," he said. "It does not include the risk of fire from rocket debris, which presents a much more significant risk to Little Cumberland Island. Camden County knows this of course, but yet they push forward despite this obvious risk to our community."
The use of drones was previously proposed for the spaceport project, but not over Cumberland Island National Seashore or Little Cumberland, which is part of the national park. The current application only became public after the Southern Environmental Law Center made a Freedom of Information Act request for it from the FAA.
"We don't know what they're currently proposing, but for getting a copy of the application through FOIA," said SELC senior attorney Brian Gist.
"This is a circumstance where you need to be forthcoming with information and have a clear public conversation about what the requirements are, what process is being followed, and what potential risks are that this poses to the public," Gist said. "You know, that's what should happen with complicated projects like this. But the fact of the matter is, that's not what's happening."
———
©2020 Savannah Morning News (Savannah, Ga.)
Visit the Savannah Morning News (Savannah, Ga.) at savannahnow.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
