On 31 March 2004, the station again became inoperative. The future After the military left the station, Puerto Rican Governor Sila María Calderón announced that her party, the PPD, had political goals to turn the base into an international airport. This was backed in 2005 by the then-new Governor, Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, who asserted that the area might be converted to an airport. He also stated that Ceiba as a town would serve as an economic and tourist center for eastern Puerto Rico, and that converting the former military base into a civil airport would be part of a plan to open seven or eight large airports in Puerto Rico. As of January 2009, approximately of the former Naval Station was being marketed to the public by the Los Angeles group of Colliers International, on behalf of the Navy's Base Realignment and Closure Program Management Office, as a public auction to commence in the near future. The remaining portion is in the process of being conveyed to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and other Federal agencies in various stages. Since November 2008, Puerto Rico Ports Authority operates the José Aponte de la Torre Airport. In 2012, the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station was under consideration as a possible location for the SpaceX private launch site, but was not selected. The CBP Air and Marine Operations began marine operations at a new facility at Roosevelt Roads Naval Station on 30 August 2018. Marine Environmental Remediation (MER) Group signed an agreement with the LRA to rent Pier 3 as a ship recycling facility in April 2016. MER Group is the first true GREEN recycling facility within the US. There are currently three ships, Seven Polaris, Lone Star and the Atlantic VII, at the pier for recycling. The company will bring over 700 jobs to the local area. As of October 2018, Ricardo Rosselló's administration made it the launching port to Vieques and Culebra In mid-March 2020, José Aponte Hernández, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico said he would request from Jenniffer González Colón, (the resident commissioner of Puerto Rico) for funds to restore a former hospital to operational status. What was discussed was the possibility of using the former hospital located on the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station to treat persons affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico. Huricane Maria rescue In 2017, Roosevelt Roads military personnel