FORKS -- Space Transport Corp.'s Rubicon 2 rocket can be launched at its site near Queets without causing environmental damage or violating fly-over restrictions of the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, company officials say.
``STC respects and admires the national marine sanctuary for defending the sanctuary against a perceived hazard,'' Space Transport Corp. co-founder Eric Meier said Tuesday.
``However, we expect to show that the natural aversion to rocketry is unfounded.
``We appreciate natural beauty as much as anyone, and have chosen rocket technologies that have minimal impact on nature.''
Meier's comments were in response to a PDN article Monday reporting that officials of the Port Angeles-based marine sanctuary are investigating the Aug. 8 launch of Rubicon 1 that failed at liftoff and plunged in pieces into sanctuary waters.
Sanctuary Superintendent Carol Bernthal and a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration law enforcement investigator confirmed Tuesday that the company is under investigation and could face prosecution over its Aug. 8 launch attempt.
Rocket fuel discharge
Bernthal said the investigation was prompted because sanctuary officials feared that rocket fuel was discharged into the sanctuary's waters when it was launched off a private beach bluff near the Jefferson-Grays Harbor county line.
``This is only one of 13 federally designated sanctuaries around the country . . . and we think the resources deserve a high level of protection,'' Bernthal said.
