Missouri Officials Question USGS Decision on Denver Location for NGTOC

After last week's announcement that the USGS National Geospatial Technical Operations Center would be located in Denver, shutting out Rolla and other sites, Missouri Representative Jo Ann Emerson was described as being "a little bit furious," by her spokesperson.She, along with the state senators and local officials, had lobbied for the Rolla location and even tried to expand operations in the area.

Emerson and Sens.Christopher Bond and Jim Talent did not sit still.In a letter dated September 21 to Patrick Leahy, acting director of USGS, the three called for access to documents and reports regarding the decision and noted that "the lack of information provided by your agency on this matter is unacceptable and causes us to call into question the site selection process conducted by USGS."

It's not clear how far this exploration will go, but Max Ethridge, acting director over USGS's four mapping offices was quoted in the local paper saying, "Who knows? There's always hope."

Update 9/23 3:30 pm EST: The Rolla Daily News is not going to take the decision lying down, either.It demands answers in an unattributed article.

Morgan Bearden, a longtime Rolla USGS employee, accorinding to the paper said "he's not sure what can be done about the decision unless federal officials begin some sort of investigation about how the Denver site was selected over Rolla."