By Ben Pangelinan
For Variety

THIS week, the Department of Defense, Department of the Navy will hold scoping meetings to gather input and comments from the community in preparation for an Environmental Impact Study and Overseas Environmental Impact Statement.
According to the Notice of Intent, the EIS and OEIS is to evaluate the potential environmental impact that will occur when 8,000 Marines and their families relocate to Guam within the next several years.
In addition to the relocation, the purpose of the EIS and OEIS will also include the Enhancement of Infrastructure and Logistic Capabilities, Improvement of Pier/Waterfront Infrastructure for Transient U.S. Navy Nuclear Aircraft Carrier at Naval Base Guam, and Placement of a U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Defense Task Force in Guam.
What this all means is that the military powers know that the move of thousands of people to Guam will affect our lives, environment and quality of life. It is also the opportunity to participate in the process of identifying how these changes will affect our lives and we as a community must make sure that we are intimately involved with any and all decisions made that will ultimately affect our way of life on Guam.
There is the business community who see this buildup as a boost for our economy. There is a women’s group, Fuetsan Famalao’an, that is concerned about the socio-cultural impact. And of course, the Chamoru Nasion that wants to make sure that the past ills posed upon our people are never forgotten.
It is crucial that we all stand up and be heard so that negative environmental and/or socio-economic impacts are not repeated. No concern is too small or fear too insignificant. Case in point: after years of denial and then acceptance, finally the military is moving to clean up the dumping of environmental hazardous waste in the Urunao area right over our aquifer. It has taken the military over 30 years to admit and dispose of this waste.
We must let the military know that we will not tolerate another 30 years of waiting for environmental mitigation after the fact. The move must include plans, programs and trust funds to prevent contamination and environmental degradation in the first place and immediately make available the necessary funds to clean up unexpected contamination as they happen. When the Navy returned Tiyan lands, there was some contamination in our water lens and as part of the return, gave the Government of Guam money to clean it up.
This is only the tip of the iceberg of the environmental hazards that the military has imposed on our island. I am sure that there are other areas of concern that we are unaware of.
According to the Notice of Intent for the EIS/OEIS, the Secretary of Defense established the Joint Guam Program Office, which will be headed by Mr. David F. Bice. Their role is to “facilitate, manage, coordinate and execute certain DoD actions in Guam.” I met with Mr. Bice and while I do not doubt his sincerity, past practices of the military lead me to articulate otherwise.
From the materials that were handed out by the JGPO, it appears that the scoping meetings will be an informal open house type of meeting. There will be federal agencies present to answer any questions you may have about the EIS/OEIS process and testimonies submitted will be received. However, you will not have the opportunity to publicly discuss it with officials. Instead, you may have a one-to-one discussion with them.
The military has admitted that the relocation of the Marines to Guam is unprecedented. Which means to me that they are learning as they go along. Which also means that Guam must be a partner in that learning curve ensuring that our voices are heard — loud and clear. Whether this is through our leaders, individually or as a group, we must be heard. Guam will go through many changes. It is up to us how, when and who decides on the changes that affect those that call Guam our home.
My one overriding message is that if this move is unprecedented, they cannot deal with the people of Guam in an precedented manner. We must be given unprecedented accommodations.
I encourage you to go to the meetings. Listen. Speak out.