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Massive new NSA installation in Utah: convenient, or Hatch pork?
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The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Utah will soon be home to a million square foot NSA facility that could bring up 1200 high tech jobs to the state. (Hat tip to Tim Shorrock, via twitter.)
The facility is expected to cost billions when completed and consume 65 megawatts of electricity, about as much as is presently consumed by Salt Lake City. NSA's voracious power consumption is one of the reasons the agency decided to locate the facility in Utah.
That, and the presence of the Utah National Guard, which includes several unique linguist units that support NSA's foreign intercept operations.
The Salt Lake Tribune article hints that Senate pork might also be a factor in the project. Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah is the most senator member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, after all. Despite widespread press exposure for the project, Hatch's office refused comment citing--of course--national security concerns.
Investigative reporter Tim Shorrock, who wrote about NSA's outsourcing in his book Spies for Hire (now available in paperback) and who has written extensively on NSA's domestic surveillance activities, thinks that the move is connected to domestic surveillance. This morning Tim tweeted
There's going to be lots of Mormons monitoring our phone calls and emails soon. And lots of contractors moving to Utah.
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