[Infowarrior] - NSA to build huge facility in Utah

[Richard Forno]

Spies like us: NSA to build huge facility in Utah
Civilian jobs » The facility could offer more than 1,000 high-tech  
jobs for the state.
By Matthew D. LaPlante

The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated: 07/02/2009 09:10:38 AM MDT

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_12735293
Hoping to protect its top-secret operations by decentralizing its  
massive computer hubs, the National Security Agency will build a 1- 
million-square-foot data center at Utah's Camp Williams.

The years-in-the-making project, which may cost billions over time,  
got a $181 million start last week when President Obama signed a war  
spending bill in which Congress agreed to pay for primary  
construction, power access and security infrastructure. The enormous  
building, which will have a footprint about three times the size of  
the Utah State Capitol building, will be constructed on a 200-acre  
site near the Utah National Guard facility's runway.

Congressional records show that initial construction -- which may  
begin this year -- will include tens of millions in electrical work  
and utility construction, a $9.3 million vehicle inspection facility,  
and $6.8 million in perimeter security fencing. The budget also allots  
$6.5 million for the relocation of an existing access road,  
communications building and training area.

Officials familiar with the project say it may bring as many as 1,200  
high-tech jobs to Camp Williams, which borders Salt Lake, Utah and  
Tooele counties.

It will also require at least 65 megawatts of power -- about the same  
amount used by every home in Salt Lake City combined. A separate power  
substation will have to be built at Camp Williams to sustain that  
demand, said Col. Scott Olson, the Utah National Guard's legislative  
liaison.

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He noted that there were two significant power corridors that ran  
though Camp Williams -- a chief factor in the NSA's desire to build  
there.

The NSA bills itself as the home of America's codemakers and  
codebreakers, but the Department of Defense agency is perhaps better  
known for its signals intelligence program, which is reported to have  
the capacity to tap into a significant amount of the world's  
communications. The agency also has been the subject of significant  
criticism by civil libertarians, who have accused it of unwarranted  
monitoring of the communications of U.S. citizens.

The NSA's heavily automated computerized operations have for years  
been based at Fort Meade, Maryland, but the agency began looking to  
decentralize its efforts following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11,  
2001.

Propelling that desire was the insatiable energy appetite of the  
agency's computers. In 2006, the Baltimore Sun reported that the NSA  
-- Baltimore Gas & Electric's biggest customer -- had maxed out the  
local grid and could not bring online several supercomputers it needed  
to expand its operations.

About the same time, NSA officials, who have a long-standing  
relationship with Utah based on the state Guard's unique linguist  
units, approached state officials about finding land in the state on  
which to build an additional data center.

Olson said NSA officials also seemed drawn to Utah's increasing  
reputation as a center of technical industry and the area's more  
traditional role as a transportation hub.

"They were looking at secure sites, where there could be a natural  
nexus between organizations and where space was available," he said.  
"The stars just kind of came into alignment. We could provide them  
everything they need."

The agency is building a similar center in San Antonio at the site of  
a former Sony microchip plant.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, the longest-serving member of the Senate Select  
Committee on Intelligence, refused to answer questions about the  
project. Officials from Hatch's office said they were not at liberty  
to discuss a classified matter, though it is referenced in several  
public documents and has been spoken about openly by state officials  
for the past week.

NSA officials also declined to comment immediately on the project, but  
pledged to answer questions later this week.


Tribune reporter Matt Canham contributed to this story