By Joseph Pena
The Alpine Sun

     OCOTILLO — Brian Bonfiglio made it very clear. In a brief conversation recently, Blackwater USA’s western division vice president refuted rumors that a law enforcement and military training facility proposal in Ocotillo is linked to Blackwater.
     “Zero. Big fat zero,” said Bonfiglio, of Blackwater USA’s connection to Wind Zero’s plan for a 963-acre facility in Imperial County. But, Blackwater’s contentious proposal for a similar training camp on 824 acres in rural Potrero has some anti-Blackwater residents with a feeling of déjà vu.
     The Wind Zero site is located east of the communities of Boulevard and Jacumba, just on the other side of the county line, in Imperial County.
     In the wake of Blackwater’s proposal and the backlash it’s faced from Potrero residents, the Ocotillo site is a tough sale for Wind Zero CEO Brandon Webb. But Webb insists that the community has been supportive.
Jeanette Hartman, chair of the Sierra Club’s land-use committee, is one of many who believes that Blackwater is one of Wind Zero’s 10 un-named investors.
     Hartman said there is no evidence to support her claim, but the semblances between the projects are suspicious. Regardless of whether there is a connection, Hartman said the Sierra Club has developed a position on “these types of projects.”
     “The sites are hard to characterize because we have not had anything like them in the United States,” Hartman said. “We’ve researched Blackwater’s sites in Illinois and North Carolina, and essentially Blackwater moved into areas with proposals to do less than what they ended up implementing. What they propose is only foreshadowing for what’s to come.”
     The environmental impact of the training facilities is worrisome, Hartman said. Land-use concerns are what Hartman and her committee cite as reasons not to support the Ocotillo proposal.
     Hartman has certainly made Webb’s job a bit more difficult.
     “Jeanette Hartman’s comments have created obvious concerns, which I can understand,” said Webb, a retired Navy SEAL. “The project is still well received — though, there are still hurdles to overcome.”
     Webb chalked up Hartman’s comments to politically motivated, unfounded conspiracy theories.
     “There are no facts to ground her statements,” he said.
     But that hasn’t stopped Hartman or opponents of the Blackwater project from talking about the Ocotillo proposal — or a similar proposal to open a military and law-enforcement training site in Riverside County.
     After it was revealed that Blackwater had ties to Covert Canyon, an illegally run shooting range and military training facility in Alpine, theories have run thick about the possibility the group is working with other agencies to build more camps.
     Mark Halcon, owner of the Covert Canyon Training Center, was operating without necessary permits. Halcon was subcontracted by Blackwater to train military personnel at his Kearny Mesa shooting range.
     The Ocotillo site, which Webb said is in no way linked to Blackwater’s plans, would offer law enforcement and military training, as well as public access for recreational shooters.
     The Wind Zero site would include shooting ranges, a driving track, and lodging. Webb said the camp will not train private contractors, one of the primary concerns Potrero residents have with the Blackwater proposal.
     “I might have been naïve, but I assumed contractors meant people who were rebuilding homes, and schools, and businesses in Iraq — I had no idea it meant there was a private mercenary army,” said Barbara Chamberlain, a Potrero resident opposed to Blackwater’s plans. “The war would be right in the middle of our town.”
     Chamberlain shared Hartman’s concern for the environmental impacts the Blackwater and Ocotillo proposals will have on the sites.
     Wind Zero sent a letter to Ocotillo community members outlining the proposal, and spoke at a community meeting to answer residents’ questions.
     Webb said law enforcement members are traveling out of state to train. Wind Zero projects that in year four its gross revenue would be $20 million, and the tax revenue would boost Ocotillo’s economy. He also said the site would bring 40 jobs to the community.
     And while he understands the concerns some have, he reiterated that Blackwater has no connection to his company or his investors.
     “Trust is big,” he said. “We have to make good on our commitment to the community. The last thing we’d want is someone from Blackwater investing in the company.”