Trementina Base

Ahh, the scientologists have another one. I guess they are the ones that will live through the apocalypse. I highly doubt that their bunkers could help their lost souls, though. On Wikipedia:

According to the CST, the purpose of the base is to provide storage space for an archiving project to preserve L. Ron Hubbard‘s writings, films and recordings for future generations. Hubbard’s texts have been engraved on stainless steel tablets and encased in titanium capsules underground. The project began in the late 1980s.^[1]

The base includes a number of dwellings and the archives themselves, the latter in a network of underground tunnels. The base also has its own private, concrete airstrip, the San Miguel Ranch Airport (NM53); it is not shown on FAA sectional charts or in navigation databases by the owner’s request.

An aerial photograph showing the base’s enormous Scientology symbols on the ground caused media interest and broke the story in November 2005. According to a Washington Post report, the Church’s first reaction was to attempt to suppress the information:

The church tried to persuade station KRQE not to air its report last week about the aerial signposts marking a Scientology compound that includes a huge vault “built into a mountainside,” the station said on its Web site. … Based in Los Angeles, the corporation dispatched an official named Jane McNairn and an attorney to visit the TV station in an effort to squelch the story, KRQE news director Michelle Donaldson said.

The church offered a tour of the underground facility if KRQE would kill the piece, the station said in its newscast. Scientology also called KRQE’s owner, Emmis Communications, and “sought the help of a powerful New Mexican lawmaker” to lobby against airing the piece, the station reported on its Web site. ^[6]

The huge symbols on the base, distinguishable only from an aerial view (^[7]35°31’28.56″N 104°34’20.20″W), are specifically those of Scientology’s Church of Spiritual Technology.^[8] Former members of the Church have said that the symbol marks a “return point” for Scientologists to help find Hubbard’s works when they travel here in the future from other places in the universe.^[9]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trementina_Base

From another blog:

Did the government get a secret underground base in return for cutting Co$ the biggest tax break in history? What kind of underground base could have been worth that? Is the government “sharing” the land with an organization the IRS now calls a “religion”????????? How is that constitutional?

http://proudsuppressives.blogspot.com/2006/05/and-now-for-something-really-weird.html

This is beyond insane. Seriously…it depresses the hell out of me, also.

Secret scientology vaults???

*What is going on here? There is a hell of a lot of speculation…this could be the scientologists, could be the government. One thing I know for sure…it damn well ain’t for paperwork. Considering the massive complexity of this project, it makes me wonder…is our only opportunity for safety underground?? Will we have to live like the mole people?? Stay tuned, this is very interesting.*

SWEENEY CANYON, Wyo. — The construction began last summer, stirring up dust that wafted down this desert valley and into a small community of off-the-grid homes.

As many as 20 heavy trucks a day hauling construction materials and equipment rumbled down the valley’s main gravel road, passing into a gate marked with a “No Trespassing” sign. Helicopters flew in sling loads of cargo. Powerful work lights lit up the valley at night.

Public planners in southwest Wyoming’s Sweetwater County — a sagebrush expanse roughly the size of Massachusetts — say the contractor hired for the project has told them it intends to build a 22,000-square-foot underground storage vault to store documents.

Whose documents exactly? Apparently, the writings of the late L. Ron Hubbard, the Church of Scientology’s founder, and other church records.

But plans remain vague. County land use planner John Barton said the county also has been told the vault might hold any number of things besides documents.

“We’ve had everything from underground housing of sheep or hay,” Barton said. “We’ve had cemetery discussed. We’ve had mining discussed.”

The contractor, International Ground Support Systems of Santa Fe, N.M., also has said it plans to build a 3,500-square-foot caretaker house and an airstrip, county officials say. But they allege that IGSS has failed to apply for two required permits for work done so far.

The mysterious project has riled some neighbors, who value the solitude of their remote community, located about 150 miles east of Salt Lake City.

“I don’t care if it’s Church of Scientology, the Roman Catholic Church or, you know, Kraft Foods,” Barton said. “We have development activity occurring — has occurred and, rumor has it, continues to occur — without required permits.”

A local attorney representing IGSS, Robert Reese, said the earthwork already done is similar to improvements that would be made at any ranch. He said that’s consistent with the site’s agricultural zoning and past use as a cattle ranch. Therefore, he said, the contractor hasn’t needed to get a permit.

“Our position is that everything that has been done so far falls well within the agricultural use and no permit is required,” Reese said.

IGSS has a majority ownership stake in the 3,500-acre property along with a handful of locals who otherwise don’t appear to be directly involved in the project, according to county officials.

Neither the Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology — a roughly 50-year-old religion noted for its unconventional beliefs and celebrity followers — nor IGSS officials returned several phone messages seeking more information about the project.

However, an entity called the Church of Spiritual Technology has been known to build underground vaults to store Scientology documents, including near Petrolia, Calif., and Trementina, N.M. According to records from Humbolt County, Calif., IGSS received a permit in 1990 to build the Petrolia vault for the Church of Spiritual Technology, which is based in Los Angeles.

The Church of Spiritual Technology doesn’t have a listed phone number.

The Church of Spiritual Technology and the Church of Scientology are linked, according to Larry Brennan, of Bow, N.H., a former Scientologist who now writes a blog about the religion.

The Church of Spiritual Technology holds Scientology’s copyrights and trademarks and stores church documents in underground vaults to preserve the religion in case of nuclear war, he said.

The developer’s lack of permits prompted the county to issue a stop-work order in September. When work didn’t stop, the planners referred the matter to County Attorney Brett Johnson, who said he’s contemplating legal action if work continues without a permit.

“There’s been a lot of earth moved. It’s quite clear that they’re preparing to do a lot more work and we just want them to come in and get the proper permits,” Johnson said.

John Ledford lives in a solar-powered home within sight of the construction zone. He said the project has stirred up considerable dust and he worries that the construction could cause his water well to run dry.

“They’ve ruined the road, and we live with the fact that the road has gotten ruined. But the air and the water? It’s just not right,” Ledford said.

IGSS attorney Reese said that far from doing harm, the company has improved the property.

“They’re doing nothing but agricultural work out there in the last couple of months,” Reese said. “They’ve got grazing permits, cattle are being raised, they were cleaning stream beds, fixing up the property, getting a lot of trash out there. It’s much nicer than it was.”

http://news.aol.com/article/scientology-vault/337618