According to the group the constructions plans of US military is not up to mark for infrastructure upgrades and that would lead to raw sewage spills and a shortage of drinking water. The agency further said that the military’s plan to build a new aircraft carrier berth at the U.S. territory’s Apra Harbor would result in “unacceptable impacts” to 71 acres (28 hectares) of a high quality coral reef.
In its six-paged letter to the Navy the EPA has outlined the criticisms in a strongly word regarding a draft environmental impact statement by the military. The EPA said that the impacts are of sufficient magnitude that EPA believes the action should not proceed as proposed and improved analyses are necessary to ensure the information in the EIS is adequate to fully inform decision makers.
The military’s Joint Guam Program Office explained that it was evaluating all comments it received on its environmental study and was committed to working with the EPA and other federal agencies to find solutions. He also told that the issues raised by EPA regarding the potential impacts to Guam from the military buildup are consistent with what we have heard from Guam’s leaders, local agencies and the public. It is informed that the military plan includes moving 8,600 Marines, and 9,000 of their dependents, to Guam from Okinawa, Japan. Washington and Tokyo are jointly paying for the transfer, which is designed to reduce the U.S. military’s large footprint on densely populated Okinawa.
