[CPEO-MEF] EXPANSION: Guam

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Military Buildup’s Environmental Takedown

By: Juliana Duran
Scientific American
June 25, 2013

Guam, a US territory, is an island that is no stranger to war or  
military presence. It first came under US control after the Spanish- 
American war. However, during WWII, after Pearl Harbor was bombed,  
the Japanese invaded and occupied Guam.  Ultimately, American forces  
retook the island, and following the war Guam was once again under US  
control and became a territory. Since then, the US military has been  
present on the island (CSIS 2012). The military has been a large part  
of Guam’s recent history, and it continues to drive much of the  
decision making in the Guamanian government. Currently the Navy, Army  
and the Air Force each have forces on the island and all are expected  
to increase greatly in the next seven years.

In 2006 a policy decision dictated that 8,000 US troops would move  
from Japan to a new site to decrease the military footprint on  
Okinawa and Japan. Guam was chosen as one of the sites of relocation  
with 5,000 troops and 1,300 dependents scheduled to make the move  
(McAvoy 2010). However, there are those that feel that the small  
island is ill equipped to handle the influx of new residents. Due to  
aging infrastructure, the military buildup will greatly effect Guam’s  
environment and impact its people if nothing is done to mitigate this  
problem.

In 2010 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reviewed the  
military’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). They found  
the DEIS to be unsatisfactory and recommended many changes (EPA 2010).

...

For the entire article, see
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/expeditions/2013/06/25/military- 
buildups-environmental-takedown/

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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