He said Guam’s water, wastewater and power systems are in need of significant upgrades and investments to meet the historic growth as well as the proposed buildup.
Sanchez told visiting White House representative Nancy Sutley earlier this week that Guam needs an estimated $1.35 billion to bring the island’s power and water systems up to par with the standards necessary to support military buildup efforts.
Sutley, chairwoman of the Council on Environmental Quality, was on island to take a closer look at the larger socioeconomic impact of relocating nearly 8,000 U.S. Marines and their dependents from Okinawa to Guam.
Sanchez said all Guam infrastructure systems must be integrated and upgraded in order to provide the most reliable and affordable systems for the island’s civilian and military population.
“This is a Guam and Marianas buildup, not just a military buildup,” read the presentation Sanchez gave Sutley on Tuesday.
Officials at Guam Waterworks Authority in their official response to the Navy’s draft environmental impact statement said they agree with DoD’s stated objective to avoid the creation of “two Guam’s.”
However, the military’s failure to address impacts to the island’s infrastructure outside of the base gates and to put the burden of construction and ancillary growth onto GWA is clearly counter to the “One Guam” concept, said officials at the waterworks agency.
Although the island’s utilities agencies have maintained that the military should absorb any direct or indirect costs associated with the military buildup, no significant federal funds have been identified to support the buildup efforts, Sanchez said.
According to Sanchez, if water and wastewater needs cannot be addressed properly, permits for construction worker housing cannot be granted. Without construction workers, no “buildup” can be built he said.
If the military expects the government of Guam to shoulder the costs, Sanchez said existing ratepayers will have to shoulder those costs as well.
However, with Guam’s per capita income significantly below U.S. standards, Sanchez said utility costs are already challenging to ratepayers.
The magnitude of the military buildup’s infrastructure impact on island residents will outpace their ability to afford wastewater and power services, he told Sutley.
If existing ratepayers have to shoulder the costs, Sanchez said essential services may be priced beyond the reach of citizens and businesses.
