COMMENTING on the recently released final environmental impact statement, senators are criticizing the Department of Defense for its alleged mismanagement of the military realignment initiative, particularly the unresolved issues related to the socio-cultural impact of the buildup and the lack of transparency over the Pagat site.
Senator Frank Blas, Jr. on Tuesday wrote to Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Dorothy Robyn, challenging her to review in further detail the issues in the final environmental impact statement that were excluded from the final report.
Blas said Robyn disagreed with his statement that the briefing provided no insight as to how the federal government will deal with unresolved and long-standing issues in light of the military buildup.
“If you can recall,” Blas stated in his letter to Robyn, “I stated that I was disappointed that the briefing provided no information concerning the unresolved issues that Guam has with the federal government as opportunities for the discussions of these issues were identified in the draft environmental impact statement. I further stated that it would be difficult for me to advocate the plan if our unresolved issues were not concurrently addressed.”
Blas highlighted two specific statements in the draft report, which he described as “offensive” and “colonialistic.”
Vice Speaker BJ Cruz, for his part, praised the Guam Preservation Trust in its efforts to challenge the Department of Defense with a possible lawsuit over its plan to build a firing range in Pagat.
“My only hope was in the Trust because it was obvious that the [Council on Environmental Quality] had compromised its honor by ignoring the Congressional Intent in its creation,” he said.
Senator Judi Guthertz said she will carefully study the final impact report and encouraged the public to make comments during the 30-day review period before the record of decision is released.
DoD earlier said it would no longer respond to comments, but Guthertz believes that once the comments are read, disregarding them would be impossible. “They wouldn’t dare!” she declared.
Guthertz said she will further review how well the military assessed alternatives to Pagat for a firing range. She said she has recommended Tarague Beach and the Naval Munitions Area for a firing range in small arms training and machine gun training, respectively.
Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn yesterday met with several members of the legislature at Carmen’s Restaurant in Hagatna.
Lynn, who is responsible for overseeing all of DOD’s activity related to the military realignment, said although no new developments have come up since the release of the final study, he still wanted to hear the senators’ concerns.
