The General Services Administration has withdrawn plans to build a $100 million training center for the State Department along Maryland's Eastern Shore after facing sharp criticism from residents.

GSA Administrator Martha Johnson announced the decision in a letter sent Monday to Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., who had pressed GSA to reconsider the proposed location.

"I have fought hard for this process to work and for the voices of the residents of Queen Anne's County to be heard," Mikulski said in a statement. "I haven't always been happy with the process, but in this case it worked."

GSA and State had selected a 2,000-acre site in a rural section of Eastern Maryland for the new Foreign Affairs Security Training Center, which is intended to consolidate 19 separate diplomatic training facilities scattered across the country. However, residents had expressed serious concerns about the potential environmental impact of locating the facility there.

In her letter, Johnson said a preliminary analysis showed that building the training facility on the site "would be a significant change in land use and [cause] considerable noise and traffic impacts."

Johnson said GSA and State would begin work to find an alternative location. Mikulski said she had contacted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and GSA to ensure that alternative Maryland sites are given due consideration.