By Daniel Witter, for Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES — Locating another Navy base in the North Olympic Peninsula won’t likely occur in the near future, a Navy official said Wednesday.
In a presentation to about 40 Port Angeles Rotary Club members at the Red Lion Inn, Rear Adm. James A Symonds, commander of Navy Region Northwest, said 11 naval bases already exist in the region— the third largest fleet concentration in the country.
One of those is Naval Magazine Indian Island, which is just across Port Townsend Bay from the city of Port Townsend.
The base is the only munitions storage and transfer depot on the West Coast for the Pacific Fleet.
There isn’t a demand for new Navy bases, he said,
“We’re not in the growth business generally,” Symonds said, answering a question about whether or not the Navy would consider placing an installation here.
“Building a new base is not in our future.”
He believes the defense budget is as large as it will get.
He blamed the rising cost of such programs as Social Security.
The defense budget “is going to have to go down,” he said.
