GPO’s backup plant on storm-prone Gulf

Part 3 of a three-part series on the outsourcing of U.S. passports.

When the government finally built a backup passport center to be used in case Washington became debilitated, it picked a location directly in the path of potential future disaster, the hurricane-prone Mississippi Gulf Coast, which was ravaged by Katrina just a few years ago.

The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) originally planned to build the backup center in a high-security nuclear facility in the Nevada desert, right in the back yard of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

But in 2006, the agency moved the proposed plant to an empty Army ammunition plant at NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, the home of then-Sen. Trent Lott, the Republican who also was chairman of the congressional committee that oversaw the GPO, according to interviews and documents reviewed by The Washington Times.

The backup plant, which is near completion and already is testing equipment, is being outfitted with German-made printing presses and Japanese-made binding equipment in an area that faces a high risk of hurricanes. The eye of Hurricane Katrina hit the Mississippi coast near the Space Center and killed more than 230 people in Mississippi alone.

Documents reviewed by The Times state the GPO’s internal watchdog suspects the agency did not follow proper procedure in selecting the Mississippi site and that concerns have been raised for other government structures being placed in the same area because of its proximity to the Gulf region’s famed hurricane alley.

For instance, an environmental assessment conducted by a contractor for a replacement water and sewage maintenance building for a proposed Hancock County government building at nearby Stennis International Airport stated the area where the backup passport plant is located is “within the Hurricane Katrina impact zone and could be susceptible to future storm impacts.”

GPO officials have little to say about their reasons for the move.

After several site analyses, “GPO and the State Department determined Stennis Space Center to be the most secure and cost-effective location,” GPO spokesman Gary Somerset said. As for the potential for future disaster in Mississippi, Mr. Somerset added “there was a challenge” in meeting security requirements for a secure production plant outside Washington.

A Lott spokesman said the former senator is unaware of the arrangement and would not otherwise comment

The Times examined the state of America’s new e-passport program, disclosing in stories this week that the GPO outsourced production of key components for the passport to overseas facilities and has charged the State Department substantially more than it actually costs to make each passport.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday her department is investigating the pricing issues, and two congressional committees also launched investigations into the security issues raised by having the crown jewels of America’s border-security system produced overseas.

Several GPO officials, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because of fear of retribution, told The Times they have been deeply concerned about the placement of the backup passport facility in a region with the potential for severe hurricanes.

“Secure locations, such as military reservations in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia or Pennsylvania would have been more convenient to the GPO skilled work force that would need to establish and operate the new facility,” said one official critical of the plan.

The backup center is part of the State Department’s “continuity-of-government program,” which is designed to ensure that the GPO could keep mass producing the passports required for entering or exiting the United States in case its current, lone production plant, on North Capitol Street in the District, was hampered by terrorism or some other disaster, such as an electrical fire.

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