Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Spared

Before the Commission began its consideration of Portsmouth Naval shipyard, there were rumblings that the shipyard would emerge unscathed.

Then as one commissioner after another defended the shipyard, it became clear that those rumblings were reality.

Commissioner Philip Coyle argued with the Department of Defense's opinion that the shipyard has excess capacity - meaning it's not being used enough.

"every human activity has excess capacity. i don't use my garage 24 hours a day, but i wouldn't tear it down. it's clear that in Portsmouth, we don't have excess excess capacity"

Then came the surprisingly strong statement from the chairman of the Commission, Anthony Principi.

"I believe that portsmouth is the preeminent naval shipyard in the nation. It is the gold standard by which we should measure shipyards. It is a model for labor management relations, and the quick turnaround of submarines should be noted, thereby saving the navy considerable dollars and for those reasons I strongly support maintaining the shipyard. It's a national resource and it would be a tragedy to lose it and once we lose this shipyard, we will not get it back"

Portsmouth Shipyard labor leaders, who had traveled to Washington for the final deliberations, were thrilled by the decision.

Terry Eleftherion is the President of the Shipyard's engineers' union. He says that although the decision to spare the shipyard is a logical one, Chairman Principi's personal feelings came to bear on his vote.

"I think in his visit to portsmouth, it probably stuck out in his mind after he toured the facility and he met with the labor representatives and the management representatives at the ship yard and he had a presentation and it went very well"

The department of defense argued that closing the Shipyard would cost about half a billion dollars, but that by two thousand and twenty five the closure would save the Defense dept. one point three billion dollars. According to the DOD, they are about halfway done with the environmental clean up required.

But chairman Principi disputed those claims, saying the savings were overstated, and the extent of the clean-up was more extensive than previous thought. In submitted testimony, community groups argued the remainder of the environmental remediation would cost twice what the defense department estimated.

It was the culmination of a very long lobbying effort by New Hampshires Congressional delegation - although none of them were on hand for the decision.

It was also the end of the line for people like Roger Maloof.

As a labor negotiator for Sub-med that operates out of the shipyard, he says that it's not just jobs that were saved, or a local economic engine - it's really a regional seafaring way of life that will go on into the future.

"generations of shipyard workers there for hundreds of years, so i think we're all happy it got saved, and our sister new london I think new england has saved it's tradition. we worked hard and the commission has saved our tradition. so it's a great thing"

New England is so far considered to be the big winner, preserving both the shipward and the New London Submarine station - both slated for closure. But In a surprise move, New Brunswick maine will lose their naval air base, which was originally scheduled only for realignment.
The commission must send their final recommendations to President Bush by September 8th. If the president accepts it, congress can choose to vote on the recommendations, or just let them become law.
For NHPR News, I'm Julie Donnelly in Washington