‘Military should pay for buildup costs’
Discussion is ongoing between Guam Waterworks Authority and the Department of Defense over who will foot the bill for many of the much-needed GWA system upgrades necessary to handle an influx of users as a result of the military buildup.
According to agency general manager Leonard Olive, the military should pay for any direct or indirect impacts on the island’s water and wastewater systems.
Olive said DoD officials may not be planning to fund any mitigation efforts outside the fence.“Over this next week we’ll be meeting with federal agencies to flush this whole situation out,†Olive said during Monday’s Rotary Club of Northern Guam meeting. “We should have answers over the coming weeks.â€
Meanwhile, Radio New Zealand has quoted GWA assistant general manager for compliance and safety Paul Kemp as saying that the waterworks agency and the U.S. military have different expectations of the island’s water system and the changes needed to handle the military buildup.
Kemp said that the military has its own plans to source water on Guam which don’t address the needs of local residents.
“They don’t want to handle the wastewater so they’re expecting to give it all to us,†said Kemp. “But they’re saying well, you should pay for most of it.â€
However, Kemp said that GWA would not need to spend millions of dollars on upgrades if the military did not decide to relocate 8,000 Marines and their families to Guam.
According to Olive, DoD is the only federal agency that believes GWA should shoulder the upgrade costs. Olive said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agrees with GWA that the military should help pay for system impact costs outside the fence.
“The military did not do a good job in planning to mitigate the impacts of the buildup outside the fence,†said Olive.
According to the agency’s response to the draft environmental impact statement, GWA is concerned that Guam residents will have to bear more than their share of the environmental, social and economical impacts of the buildup.
GWA officials have said that the military should avoid creating “two Guams.â€
“Guam already has a disparity between the military community and the civilian community with respect to standards of living and access to services,†said the agency’s comments.
