Tinian Mayor: DEIS Technically Flawed
www.mvariety.com
September 26th, 2015
September 26th, 2015
THE municipality of Tinian, through Mayor Joey
Patrick San Nicolas, has asked the Department of Defense to defer
issuing a Record of Decision relating to the planned construction of
military training facilities on Tinian and Pagan, saying that the draft
environmental impact statement is technically flawed.
In a 31-page comment submitted to Naval Facilities Engineering Command on Sept. 14, Mayor San Nicolas stated Tinian’s opposition “to any plans to turn our island into a live-fire training range.”
He said their comments to the CNMI Joint Military Training or CJMT draft environmental impact statement are the “articulation of our collective objection to a plan that will fundamentally change how we live and who we are as a people and as a community.”
San Nicolas said the DEIS, in its current form, violates the National Environmental Policy Act.
The mayor said the (1) DEIS fails to properly analyze
or account for the environmental justice issues linked to the CNMT and
other Department of Defense actions; (2) DOD failed to prepare a single
EIS, which discusses impacts of all connected and cumulative actions in
the Marianas; (3) it failed to explore all “reasonable alternatives” for
the training proposed under the CJMT; (4) DoD failed to comply with the
National Historic Preservation Act or NEPA; (5) the analysis of issues
relevant to the Endangered Species Act is inadequate; and (6) the
analysis of Marine Mammal Protection Act-related issues is also
inadequate.
The mayor said allowing DoD to proceed with any of the proposed alternatives, which involve live-fire training activities, destruction of fishing, hunting and gathering grounds, and destruction of cultural sites, would be contrary to and a reckless disregard of NEPA’s fundamental policy “to encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his environment.”
He said DoD has taken the position that because all of Tinian is considered a minority and low-income area, there are no environmental justice issues.
He noted DoD’s “inane interpretation” of environmental justice.
In addition, he raised serious concerns regarding DoD’s outreach for the DEIS.
He said DoD’s outreach lacked transparency and possibly resulted in mass confusion over the anticipated impacts of the CJMT.
He cited inconsistencies between the statements made by the DoD representatives and the actual draft EIS.
He said if DoD were to make another EIS, it should make a real effort to obtain input from the local community.
“The denial of fair treatment and meaningful involvement throughout the NEPA process is compounded by CNMI’s political status,” the mayor said, adding that the CNMI lacks the ability to participate in the federal decision-making process.
“While the DEIS identifies the impacts on the island of Tinian as significant, it callously disregards the traditional and customary practices of the indigenous population that necessarily involve continued access to areas that are within the Military Lease Areas,” San Nicolas said.
All the proposed alternatives in the DEIS, he added, restrict their access to historical and cultural sites located within the Military Lease Areas.
He said restricting access to the MLA will intensify the conditions of poverty on Tinian.
According to the mayor, DoD failed to adequately explain reasonably foreseeable impacts or to identify mitigation measures for the impacts on the local community in the draft EIS.
Further, he said DoD violated NEPA by failing to prepare a single EIS which addresses all connected and cumulative actions in the Marianas.
The EIS for the relocation of the Marines to Guam, the CJMT and the Mariana Islands Training and Testing are connected actions, which must be analyzed under a single EIS, he added.
San Nicolas said DoD’s proposed plans will fundamentally and permanently alter the very nature of who they are as a people and as a community.
http://www.mvariety.com/cnmi/cnmi-news/local/80285-tinian-mayor-deis-technically-flawed
In a 31-page comment submitted to Naval Facilities Engineering Command on Sept. 14, Mayor San Nicolas stated Tinian’s opposition “to any plans to turn our island into a live-fire training range.”
He said their comments to the CNMI Joint Military Training or CJMT draft environmental impact statement are the “articulation of our collective objection to a plan that will fundamentally change how we live and who we are as a people and as a community.”
San Nicolas said the DEIS, in its current form, violates the National Environmental Policy Act.
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| Joey Patrick San Nicolas |
The mayor said allowing DoD to proceed with any of the proposed alternatives, which involve live-fire training activities, destruction of fishing, hunting and gathering grounds, and destruction of cultural sites, would be contrary to and a reckless disregard of NEPA’s fundamental policy “to encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his environment.”
He said DoD has taken the position that because all of Tinian is considered a minority and low-income area, there are no environmental justice issues.
He noted DoD’s “inane interpretation” of environmental justice.
In addition, he raised serious concerns regarding DoD’s outreach for the DEIS.
He said DoD’s outreach lacked transparency and possibly resulted in mass confusion over the anticipated impacts of the CJMT.
He cited inconsistencies between the statements made by the DoD representatives and the actual draft EIS.
He said if DoD were to make another EIS, it should make a real effort to obtain input from the local community.
“The denial of fair treatment and meaningful involvement throughout the NEPA process is compounded by CNMI’s political status,” the mayor said, adding that the CNMI lacks the ability to participate in the federal decision-making process.
“While the DEIS identifies the impacts on the island of Tinian as significant, it callously disregards the traditional and customary practices of the indigenous population that necessarily involve continued access to areas that are within the Military Lease Areas,” San Nicolas said.
All the proposed alternatives in the DEIS, he added, restrict their access to historical and cultural sites located within the Military Lease Areas.
He said restricting access to the MLA will intensify the conditions of poverty on Tinian.
According to the mayor, DoD failed to adequately explain reasonably foreseeable impacts or to identify mitigation measures for the impacts on the local community in the draft EIS.
Further, he said DoD violated NEPA by failing to prepare a single EIS which addresses all connected and cumulative actions in the Marianas.
The EIS for the relocation of the Marines to Guam, the CJMT and the Mariana Islands Training and Testing are connected actions, which must be analyzed under a single EIS, he added.
San Nicolas said DoD’s proposed plans will fundamentally and permanently alter the very nature of who they are as a people and as a community.
http://www.mvariety.com/cnmi/cnmi-news/local/80285-tinian-mayor-deis-technically-flawed
