The Navy recently doubled the area around the Mariana Islands where it has permission to practice sonar and underwater explosives. The Navy says the expansion merely takes into account the areas where ships train while in transit.īut some environmentalists fear the Navy is underestimating how its activities are harming whales and dolphins because there’s relatively little data on the marine mammals that live around the Marianas. The Navy recently doubled the area around the Mariana Islands where it has permission to conduct undersea sonar and explosive training and testing.
In addition to building a Marine Corps base on Guam, the Department of Defense plans to build an airfield on Tinian, set up bombing ranges on Pagan and Tinian and use a wildlife refuge in northern Guam as a buffer for a training range that supports. “It’s a threat to our very existence,” Perez says. Pete Perez, who grew up on Guam but now lives on Saipan, fears that military buildup could irrevocably harm the environment and economy while erasing archeological sites that document its history. This lake lies at the base of that volcano. The military plans to practice bombing around the northern volcano on Pagan. The military buildup in the Mariana Islands is also part of President Barack Obama’s 2011 strategy of focusing on the Asia-Pacific, an announcement widely seen to be in response to China’s increasing aggression. The new plan is expected to cost $8.7 billion, with Japan contributing $3 billion. The Department of Defense decreased the number of Marines moving to Guam to about 5,000, with the rest of the Marines moving to Hawaii and Australia. agreed to relocate 8,000 Marines to Guam.īut that sparked protests on Guam and a lawsuit was filed by local community groups and National Trust for Historic Preservation. military’s presence for years, and in 2006 the U.S. On Okinawa, a few hours away on the south side of Japan, many residents have been protesting the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, often called CNMI, which has a population of about 53,000. The southernmost island is Guam, nearly 4,000 miles away from Hawaii, with some 160,000 residents. The Department of Defense wants to dramatically ramp up its presence in the Mariana Islands, a 15-island archipelago in the Western Pacific. Click on “Map Controls” in the top-left corner to learn more about navigating the map.
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Use the buttons in the top-right corner to zoom in and out on the map, and click on the arrows in the top-left corner to make the map full screen. The locations are estimates and the plans shown aren’t exhaustive. This map shows where the Department of Defense plans to increase training and testing in the Marianas. Neighboring islands of Guam, Tinian and Pagan face the same problem. Saipan also has millions of pounds of unexploded bombs, artillery shells, grenades, bullets and other munitions left over from a gruesome three-week battle between the U.S. The Navy fuel farm is among many sites that the military abandoned, leaving toxic chemicals and munitions to litter the island for decades. But it’s often been the site of military training, even serving as a secret CIA outpost to train Chinese nationalists during the Cold War. Saipan, at less than 45 square miles, is not even one-twelfth the size of Kauai. Pangelinan, 25, grew up on Saipan and is now part of a hazardous waste team in the local government that works with the federal government to clean up old Department of Defense training and storage sites like the abandoned tanks, known as the Tanapag Fuel Farm. Marooned! How 8 Days On A Remote Island Became A Magical Experience December 12, 2016 Six of the most hazardous were removed in 2006, but remnants of others still lie in the jungles behind people’s houses, sharp metal mixing with fallen trees and dirt and vines. Most have corroded and collapsed, their contents seeping into the ground. The Navy abandoned 42 of these tanks more than 50 years ago. It’s just one example of environmental contamination the military has already left behind on Saipan.
Tom Pangelinan, left, and Robert Deleon Guerrero, right, stand below a large fuel tank that is still leaking oil decades after the Navy abandoned it. The tank used to hold thousands of gallons of fuel, but after decades of neglect all that’s left is oil sludge mixed with rainwater. Most are within a 10-minute drive of the island’s main tourist district. Pangelinan gestures to a dark line of oil seeping out of the tank, one of dozens scattered in villages on the island of Saipan in the Western Pacific. Bright green vines creep up a ladder leading up to its roof. There’s no path to get to the rusted fuel tank that towers over him. SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands - Tom Pangelinan pushes his way through the tall swordgrass and scraggly trees.