U.S. Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL) believes St. Clair County, Illinois, adjacent to Scott Air Force Base, is the ideal site for the next National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) West campus.

Four sites are competing for the campus. After St. Clair, the next three options are located in Missouri.

Bost delivered comments today on a recent United States Army Corps of Engineers Draft Environmental Statement. Bost’s formal comments highlight the benefits of placing the new campus in St. Clair. Fellow Metro-East Congressional delegation members John Shimkus (R-IL) and Rodney Davis (R-IL) joined in the effort.

“We believe this report significantly understates costs and overestimates benefits of the Missouri Site, while overestimating costs and understating benefits of the Scott Air Force Base (Scott AFB) site in St. Clair County,” Bost said. “The Scott AFB (St. Clair) site is the best option to help the NGA achieve its stated mission to deliver world-class geospatial intelligence that provides a decisive advantage to policymakers, warfighters, intelligence professionals and first responders. The governments and residents of the Metro-East region are united in their desire to recruit NGA West to St. Clair County.”

The letter, with formal comments from the delegation, responds directly to the Corps’ Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). This draft DEIS assesses the qualities of the four sites and was released by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.