Guam Under Fire
Lawsuit Filed Against Department of Defense
By Arin Greenwood | Online Only | Nov. 17, 2010
Earlier this year, U.S. Congressman Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) expressed concern that Guam would, literally, tip over and capsize due to thousands more people moving to the island. Most Guamanians aren't concerned about Guam's geological stability—but they are worried about the impact an impending military buildup could have on their cultural heritage. Some 8,600 marines and their 9,000 dependents are scheduled to move to Guam from Okinawa, as well as thousands more construction workers, troops, and others related to the military buildup.
Many in Guam petitioned for the buildup as a cure for the island's bad economy. But as the population explosion becomes imminent, the impact of tens of thousands of new residents on an island of 175,000 has become more of a concern.
One of the most controversial aspects of the buildup has been the U.S. Department of Defense's plan to build a complex of five firing ranges at Pågat, a site identified by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of this year's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.
Today, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, joined by the Guam Preservation Trust and We Are Guåhan, filed a legal action against the Department of Defense challenging the complex of firing ranges, which would be constructed immediately adjacent to and directed toward an ancient settlement called Pågat Village.
Pågat, which is said to date from 700 A.D., is one of the last remaining ancient settlements of Guam's indigenous people, the Chamorros. The coastal site features caves, a limestone forest, and a number of latte stones—stone pillars thought to be either structural foundations or burial monuments that relate to ancient Chamorro society during the time known as the "Latte Period." Pågat also has lusong—stone mortars—medicinal plants, remnants of pottery and tools, and ancestral burial grounds.
If the Department of Defense proceeds with plans to build the firing ranges on a bluff above Pagat, the ancient burial grounds would be closed to the public.
In July of this year, the Department of Defense issued an environmental study of training range options. The final environmental impact statement (EIS) named Pågat as the military's preferred site for the range.
Guam citizens, preservationists, hikers, politicians such as Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo (D-Gu.), and Guam's legislature—once among the military's biggest boosters—united to try to convince the Department of Defense to build its firing ranges elsewhere on the island, or perhaps even on Tinian, a neighboring island where the military owns land.
They made cultural arguments for why the range should be located elsewhere—saying that as one of the last preserved ancient Chamorro sites in Guam, it is an entirely inappropriate location for a firing range. The EIS does show provisions made for tourism—paths around the firing range that would still give access to the cultural spots. But Brian Turner, an attorney in the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Western Office, says he believes people in Guam are particularly critical of the plan because they have been been shut out of other cultural sites on military establishments in Guam, despite promises of access.
"DoD has a very poor track record on permitting access to places traditionally important to the Chamorro within its extensive land holdings on Guam," Turner says. "This has led to a unique level of skepticism that the military will afford any meaningful access to Pågat, which is the most intact ancient village site that is still owned by the public."
Though cultural arguments haven't won the day with the military, Pågat's stakeholders have also argued that the Department of Defense engaged in a flawed administrative process in issuing the EIS. They say that DoD failed to adequately complete the Section 106 review process, a consultation process under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 under which a federal agency is required to take into account consider how their undertakings will affect historic properties.
The administrative argument appeared to win—at first. On September 21, 2010, the Department of Defense released its Record of Decision indicating that it would defer its final decision on how the firing ranges at Pågat would be laid out, pending completion of the Section 106 process. But it did not commit to considering alternative sites.
"The Department of the Navy elected to defer the selection of a specific site for the firing range," says Tony Babauta, assistant secretary for Insular Affairs. "But, I mean, it has identified the Pågat area to be the preferred alternative. I believe the process that led up to [Pågat] being selected as the preferred alternative went through consideration of other sites before coming up with that preferred alternative site."
Pågat is the chosen spot for the firing ranges, and consideration of alternatives in the Section 106 process has been foreclosed. The lawsuit filed today doesn't take issue with the military buildup, but rather "seeks to compel the Department of Defense to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Coastal Zone Management Act and the National Historic Preservation Act by giving adequate consideration to alternative locations for the firing ranges, as mandated by law," according to a press release.
Grassroots Activism Grows
On October 1 in Guam, Leevin Camacho, a Guam lawyer, was heading out to a rally organized by his grassroots group We Are Guåhan. The Realize Our Destiny Rally, at the governor's complex, was designed to "unite our community and send a strong message to the national and international audience that our island is united in opposing the buildup as it is outlined in the Record of Decision—NO land condemnation, NO dredging at Apra Harbor, NO to a firing range at Pågat," according to We Are Guåhan's website.
"The grassroots movement started long before We Are Guåhan," Camacho says. "But I think the magnitude of the buildup didn't really hit everyone here until after the release of the EIS [in July] and of course, at that point, all of the decisions that needed to be made had already really been made. Moving forward, we want to make sure the community is going to be united to protect our cultural resources and, broader, to protect our islands from the buildup."
Camacho notes that the rally was the first time the grassroots movement was gathering in a forum that wasn't organized by the government. It signaled the stakeholders staking their ground on the issues, and on the process by which their issues would be heard.
"We're not going to limit people to three-minute comments on how they think that moving 80,000 people to Guam will affect their island," he says. "Moving forward, we want to make sure the community is going to be united to protect our cultural resources and, broader, to protect our islands from the buildup."
Arin Greenwood is a lawyer, freelance writer, and former resident of Guam.
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Comments
Submitted by wigginv at: November 23, 2010
@atr: there will be 8,600 marines and 9,000 dependents. there will also be up to 18,000 construction workers and other civilians brought to guam during the "peak" of the buildup which would total up to 79,000+. so the 17,600 is limited to just the marines + dependents, while the 79,000+ is the total increase in population possible.
Submitted by rg at: November 22, 2010
The attitude of the DOD concerning Guam is not unique. For the past 5 years multi-generational ranchers in SE Colorado have been fighting a plan that ultimately would add 6.9 million acres to the 238,000 acre Pinon Canyon Maneuvure Site which was created in the early 1980s through the largest condemnation action in U.S. history. Through Congressional funding bans and a Federal Court decision which vacated the Transformation EIS, the DOD has continued to pursue expansion for a multi-force and international training site. Now the Air Force wants to use northern New Mexico and southern Colorado for low altitude training on a daily basis. The Purgatoire River Region was placed on the both the Colorado and National Trust Most Endangered Places List in 2007.
Submitted by Charlotte at: November 20, 2010
My mother was born on Guam and I want to help in any way possible.
Submitted by scf at: November 19, 2010
Can you set up an email link for us to write our representatives about this? It can be stopped and moved elsewhere. We definitely don't need anymore bad PR and we need to show respect for others if we want it for ourselves.
Submitted by ATR at: November 19, 2010
In the begining of the article, mention is made of 8,600 Marines and (est)9,000 dependents are expected. That's 17,600 total. At the end of the article, 80,000 immegrants are mentioned. Your credibility will be much stronger with continuity of those figures. Also.....When will we as a nation realize that it is folly to continue to fund and promote a military that requires more money to support than all the rest of the world's armies combined? When will we stop jousting at scary windmills and start investing in our future? Make the Pentagon justify with real figures the consistent level of warfare. At our current levels, within a few years, we will have a bright and shiny state of the art defense system with no country to protect.Knock it off!
Submitted by mh wood at: November 18, 2010
i lived on Guam as a teen right after WWII and went to school in Quanset Huts near this site. One of my classmates was a Guamanian girl whose family had survived the Japanese occupation. they lost a good deal during this time. I have hear that many more things have changed in the intervening decades and much of the history of these proud people has been bulldozed. the Department of Defense needs to put their firing ranges somewhere else and leave this sacred site in peace. Put it on another island if it is truly needed.
Submitted by Dave at: November 18, 2010
Having been involved from early on, this article is quite accurate. The only appropriate comments to add at this time is that the Navy has been very arrogant in their relations with the Guam community and has flunked the planning process. Unfortunately, it illustrates the all too common American solution to all problems, just promise to throw lots of money at people. Perhaps a word should be said that the people of Guam are quite disappointed that the Obama administration has not taken a fresh look at the militarization of Guam and how DOD treats indigenous islanders, but Guam is still a colony of the U.S.