U.S. Army officials reassured Maryland?s federal delegation that 9,000 jobs from a New Jersey base closure will come to Aberdeen.
“The Army is committed to executing the closure of Fort Monmouth in accordance with BRAC 2005 law,” Kathryn Condon, executive deputy of the Army Material Command, said in a statement.
Condon?s statement came after Army officials met Thursday with Sens. Barbara Milkulski and Benjamin Cardin and Reps. Steny Hoyer and C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger. The transfer is expected to bring many contractors and a huge economic boom to Harford County.
News of the Army?s commitment comes as a relief to Maryland?s representatives. New Jersey lawmakers were fighting the Base Realignment and Closure law that would close Fort Monmouth and bring a research-and-development installation to Aberdeen Proving Ground, raising concerns about the future of the transfer.
“I want to make sure Maryland gets the resources our communities need to accommodate the thousands of jobs and families coming to our state,” Milkulski said in a news release. She was not available for comment Friday.
The Department of Defense is expected to release a report later this year detailing how the BRAC moves will occur without affecting the global war on terrorism, said Melissa Bohan, spokeswoman for the Army Material Command. Federal laws would hinder the transfer if it affected war efforts.
The Government Accountability Office is also looking into the cost of the Fort Monmouth closure, which officials have told The Examiner has ballooned to $1.5 billion.
Ruppersberger had no doubts about the move.
“They assured us the process will go on as scheduled,” he said through spokeswoman Heather Molino. “It?s not like we?re going to wake up tomorrow and we?re going to have 40,000 more people.”
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