[CPEO-MEF] MUNITIONS: "Navy secretary gives Guam, region 5-year exemption from DoD explosives safety regulations"

[Lenny Siegel <Lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Navy secretary gives Guam, region 5-year exemption from DoD explosives safety regulations

By Joe Taitano
Pacific Daily News (GU)
June 16, 2025

Military safety regulations that deal with everything from storage of hazardous materials to screening for unexploded ordnance will no longer apply to numerous projects on Guam and around the Pacific, according to a memo from the head of the Navy.

A spokesperson for Joint Region Marianas said the regulations can delay projects vital to national security, and stressed that base and regional commanders can still decide to implement additional protections as needed.

But news of the exemption drew criticism about safety and health risks for Guam from a local defense watchdog and an activist group.
 
…

But Robert Underwood, chairman of local think-tank and DoD watchdog Pacific Center for Island Security, raised the issue of Guam’s “horrific experience” with unexploded ordnance.

“This self-proclaimed ‘exemption’ by the Navy from their own rules reflects a total disregard for the people of Guam. The naked disregard for the people of Guam is matched by the Navy’s respect for Hawaii where there are no exemptions,” Underwood, a former Guam delegate to Congress and former University of Guam president, said.

…

For the entire article, see
https://www.guampdn.com/news/navy-secretary-gives-guam-region-5-year-exemption-from-dod-explosives-safety-regulations/article_b75f3d5e-ea23-456d-9c57-0bb18fe6a6f4.html



—

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
A project of the Pacific Studies Center
LSiegel@cpeo.org
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650-961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org
Author: DISTURBING THE WAR: The Inside Story of the Movement to Get Stanford University out of Southeast Asia - 1965–1975 (See http://a3mreunion.org)




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