KANSAS CITY, Mo – A rap protest highlighted an unusually lively meeting for the Planned Industrial Expansion Authority, which unanimously approved a development agreement for a new weapons facility on Friday.
The new location for the
National Nuclear Security Administration would be at Missouri Highway 150 and Botts Roads. It would replace the aging Honeywell factory in the Bannister Federal Complex.
During the meeting, rappers Theodore “Priest” Hughes and Desmond “337” Jones started their song with, “Self destruction, we build weapons of mass destruction.”
Several other speakers showed up to voice disapproval for the new weapons facility, which will be developed by Centerpoint-Zimmer LLC.
One of the speakers was Ann Suellentrop, who is a part of
Peace Works KC and the local chapter of the
Physicians for Social Responsibility, both groups that focus on a message of disarmament.
“One of our arguments is the United States is talking about getting rid of nukes,” she said. “Why are you building a new factory? That’s going to look like a provocation to other countries.”
The current plant at the Bannister Federal Complex produces a large portion of the non-radioactive components in the nation’s nuclear stockpile.
Kansas City Council member John Sharp said moving the plant will produce far more tax revenue than the soybean field that currently sits near Missouri Highway 150. At the plant’s current location, no taxes are paid to the Center School District because it is federally owned.
Sharp hopes that space will be redeveloped by private businesses once the contamination in the ground is removed.
After news the American Airlines overhaul base is closing next year, Kansas City Council member Cathy Jolly said it is even more important to keep about 2,000 high-paying jobs in the metro area.
“It’s just a matter of where these jobs are going to b located and I’d rather see them here than another city or state,” said Jolly.
“It would really put a hole in our economy in south Kansas City if we lose it,” said Sharp, who said the new plant would likely be constructed in New Mexico.
The decision about the weapons plant will move to the full Kansas City Council. Opponents promise they will be heard until the last vote.
“It’s a dying industry. It’s a 20th century dinosaur,” Suellentrop said.
The new plant has an estimated $673 million price tag and includes $41 million of tax incentives.
If approved, construction would likely begin in the spring of 2010.
