Lawsuit filed over Pagat

by Mindy Aguon from KUAM.com

Guam - The Department of Defense is being taken to court over a decision to use an area of land adjacent to the historic and culturally-rich village of Pagat for a firing range complex for U.S. Marines. The litigation looks to force the DoD to comply with federal laws.

"We did not want to get to this stage," Attorney Nicholas Yost said. "We've had many, many meetings and consultations."

Referring to it as their last resort, the Guam Historic Preservation Trust and We Are Guahan joined in a lawsuit with the National Trust for Historic Preservation filed against the Department of Defense. The lawsuit, filed in Hawaii where the environmental review process was coordinated by the Navy, challenges the military's plans to build a firing range complex adjacent to the historic village of Pagat, named one of the 11 most endangered historic sites.

Guam Historic Preservation Officer Joe Quinata said, "This action does not challenge the buildup itself. but seeks to compel the Department of Defense to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act by giving adequate consideration to alternative locations for the firing ranges, as mandated by law."

Yost, with the San Francisco-based SNR Denton, along with Matthew Adams has taken on this case pro bono as they believe the DoD has failed to comply with the NEPA and the National Historic Preservation Act by giving adequate consideration to alternative locations for the firing ranges.

"At the very minimum, what we want is for them to reopen the process honestly to examine alternatives, and those alternatives include those at Andersen Air Force Base, those on Navy property, all of which are listed in the complaint," Yost explained. "There's also other places on Guam that they have suggested that they haven't looked at all. There's also the possibility of relocating the ranges to Tinian, where indeed some firing ranges are already proposed in the environmental impact statement for the future."

As the lead drafter of the NEPA regulations, Attorney Yost is all too familiar with what the law requires of the federal government. Yost contends the DoD failed to follow the law and violated numerous regulations, adding, "They restricted their surveying of sites to sites on Defense Department land except for Pagat - that is the one exception they made to the rule. Other than that they looked at just Defense Department land."

Yost adds that the alternatives the DoD discarded including sites at the naval and Air Force bases should not have been thrown out without significant review. While the most desirable outcome of the lawsuit would be to put the firing range somewhere other than Pagat, the plaintiffs are also asking that a supplemental environmental impact statement be conducted.

We Are Guahan's Attorney Leevin Camacho believes Guam's unified stance against Pagat has helped make the difference, telling KUAM News, "Pagat is the most glaring example of how the DoD made its decision a long time ago with how the buildup was gonna proceed, and litigation is never what you want to do. I say that as a lawyer. I hope this sends a message that the people of Guam are not going to sit by, as bystanders on our own island and we're going to do whatever we can to protect our home including legal action."

National Trust for Historic Preservation's Dr. Anthea Hartig says the organization is glad to be collaborating on such a historic and meaningful event. "We do not take this kind of legal action lightly, but we feel that even though we've come to it reluctantly, we come to it with a seriousness of mission and we are here for you and we're and we're deeply honored to be there with you," she explained.

For others who call Guam home, today's announcement brought tears to their eyes. Moneka De Oro says she's grateful for the organizations standing up for the people of Guam to protect our future and resources. She added, "It is a very emotional experience. This whole buildup process has been incredibly emotional, especially because the people of Guam have really been cast aside in the decision making processes, so it's very emotional for us to come to this point after gathering our community together after negotiating with the DoD in many different ways, and them not listening to us and to have to come to this. It's very emotional."

United States District Court Judge David Ezra has been assigned the case and a scheduling conference is set for February 14 in Hawaii.

Sasayan landowners stand their ground: Residents refuse military's requests to survey land in northern Guam

Sasayan landowners stand their ground: Residents refuse military's requests to survey land in northern Guam

By Amritha Alladi • Pacific Daily News • December 28, 2009

Landowner Joseph Sgambelluri shows the pristine beachside of the Sasayan area in northern Guam on Dec. 18.



Sixty-one-year-old Lourdes Sgambelluri Pisarri remembers learning to swim in the Marbo Caves.

When she was 6, her grandfather, Marcello Sgambelluri, took her down to the freshwater caves, where she saw lobster and shrimp crawling at the bottom of the pool, and the stalactites and stalagmites jutting from its walls.

"It's freshwater that abuts the ocean. It's one of the most miraculous things that you can have," Pisarri said. "A freshwater pool, and the ocean is right there next to it."

But in a few months, access to those caves may be limited, and the lands where Pisarri's family farmed may be tainted with runoff from a decontamination facility and shooting range to be built there by the military, as part of their buildup projects, Pisarri said.

It's about 1,000 acres of ancestral land that's been in the Sgambelluri family for almost 100 years, Pisarri said. Now, the military is planning to construct a Marine training facility there.

"It's really a travesty of justice," she said.

Pisarri, who currently lives in New York, said she received a letter from the military earlier this year, asking if it could survey her lands and perform EPA studies there, she said.

In response, Pisarri wrote a letter to the director of the Joint Guam Program Office, John Jackson, saying she didn't want the military to place one foot on her property. She copied the letter to President Obama, Guam delegate Madeleine Bordallo, Gov. Felix Camacho, Sen. Judith Guthertz, and Retired Adm. Ed Kristensen among others, of whom only Guthertz, chairwoman of the Legislature's buildup committee, responded to the letter, she said.

"Bottom line is, I did write to the military to tell them -- in no uncertain terms --that I didn't want anybody stepping one foot on my property," Pisarri said. "I also told them I don't want one coconut tree destroyed that my grandfather planted 90 years ago."

Instead, Pisarri suggested the military use their own unused lands within the Andersen Air Force Base, but JGPO officials have told her EPA regulations prohibit the use of those lands.

"Frankly, (JGPOs public information officer Capt. Neil Ruggiero) stated that much of the military land was saving the lives of various animals, as an conservation area for birds," Pisarri wrote to JGPO.

'Displacing people'

"It unnerved me that you would first consider displacing people who have lived on our land for many years."

A statement provided by Ruggiero to the Pacific Daily News last week reiterated the Defense Department has tried to utilize its own property for the military realignment, but must follow federal environmental laws and planning processes to determine the best locations for the facilities and ranges necessary for the military realignment.

"The military is also considering feedback collected through discussions with village mayors, Government of Guam officials, and the Legislature. Through this process it has been determined that certain facilities, such as training ranges, will not fit on DOD properties without possible negative effects on Guam's citizens," Ruggiero said. "We have also learned that it may be wise to develop property near existing bases to allow functions to be grouped together in one location and eliminate the need to travel from one range or training area to another. This will ease impacts, such as traffic, on the surrounding community."
But Pisarri and other residents have said land leasing, monetary compensation, or the promise of providing land elsewhere are not options they would consider because most residents in the area acknowledge the land's value.

For example, Pisarri's brother, Joseph Sgambelluri, said the land in the Sasayan area facing the ocean is ideal for them to build family homes for their children to settle down.

"This area here is just too nice, too beautiful to use as a military site," added Virginia Stadler, another resident of the valley. "There are people that are thinking of building their homes ... to pass it on to their children and grandchildren."

Plus, Pisarri said the Chamorros are still waiting to be compensated for the way they were mistreated during World War II.

"My parents and the rest of the people on Guam have not yet been compensated by the United States," she said, adding the Japanese, the Jewish, the Native Americans, the Filipinos, and residents of Saipan have all been compensated after the atrocities they've faced throughout history.

"Why are the people of Guam being discriminated (against)? Why have they not been compensated?" she said.

But perhaps there's hope for the Sgambelluri family.

Land condemnation

Guthertz has said she and other Guam senators have obtained assurances from JGPO Executive Director Retired Maj. Gen. David Bice, that condemnation is not part of the plan for obtaining buildup lands. However, in a recent television appearance, Jackson said that all options including condemnation are "on the table," creating further confusion.

Thus, Guthertz will be holding a public hearing tomorrow to allow Guam residents to voice their concerns.

Joseph Sgambelluri will be among those present at the hearing to share their comments. Pisarri said her brother will be reading out her letter at the hearing, since she's miles away.

"I've been fighting the fight for a while now. I just know that people need to voice their opinion," Pisarri said. "We don't mind bringing men to Guam, but this is an overtaking."

UOG Can Help Guam Benefit From The Buildup

UOG Can Help Guam Benefit From The Buildup

Will The University's New Environmental Law Course Hit The Ground Running?

Will It Get Traction In Time To Make A Meaningful Difference?

Written by Jeff Marchesseault, Guam News Factor Staff Writer
Tuesday, 08 December 2009 14:13

GUAM -The introduction of a new environmental law course taught by practicing attorneys at the University of Guam may come just in time to make a difference. Depending on the willingness of the course's real-world instructors to roll up their sleeves and delve right into the thick of the single most pressing environmental issue of the day, these down-in-the-dirt lawyers cum ad hoc professors and their graduate-level students have a chance to add substantive weight to concerns posed by the Department of Defense's Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Overseas Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS/OEIS) supporting Guam's region wide military buildup.

This 8,000-page document is now widely available for perusal online, at mayors' offices, at public libraries and at the Legislature building in Hagatna, and it is wide open for public comment. The Pentagon's Joint Guam Program Office has been accepting demonstrably serious written concerns since November 20th (the day DOD published the document) and will continue doing so until February 17th. This is a three-month window of opportunity for anyone concerned about the buildup and its effects to sort through what's most important to them within the nine or ten indexed volumes available online or inside bound volumes at the various assigned public reading rooms.

Timing = Everything

As a Spring 2010 course, the environmental law program presumably launches somewhere around the third week of January, just less than a month before the DEIS comment period closes. This is perfect timing for a hit-the-ground-running class project that could have meaningful and lasting effect on various aspects of the Final Environmental Impact Statement in ways that would reward students and their instructors while benefiting the community. The Defense Department acknowledges that no working DEIS/OEIS can exist in a vacuum -- and that no such document can be perfect -- but that it can be improved upon in ways that help the host community and the military simultaneously if the host community is willing to participate in a meaningful way.

'Ready-Made' For Impact Improvement

UOG's environmental law course requires students to have at least a bachelor's degree before registering and requires the price of enrollment. Chances are that nearly all such qualified students are going to have a serious interest in the consequences and opportunities involved in the most intensive, condensed environmental impact to hit Guam in decades. If the practicing attorneys who have been hired to carry out the coursework want to make the greatest impression on their students and if their students hope to have the most direct influence on their community, now would be the time for instructors to begin planning coursework around the DEIS/OEIS and for students to begin familiarizing themselves with this critical document.

Here is the official course announcement from the University of Guam:

UOG Offers New Graduate Course: Introduction To Environmental Law

The Environmental Science program at the University of Guam offers a new course in Environmental Law beginning in the spring 2010 semester

"We believe this new course will be of interest to our current graduate students as well as alumni and others in the community who want to learn more about the regulation and enforcement of environmental requirements," said John Jenson, Professor and Environmental Science Program Chair at the University of Guam. "The Environmental Law course will certainly benefit those individuals working in the environmental field."

In an effort to cater to the schedules of working professionals, Environmental Law will be offered Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. It will be taught by a team of local practicing attorneys: Sam Bailey, James Collins, Aaron Jackson, Christina Pedersen, and James Wade. This course surveys the laws and agencies that regulate, enforce, and litigate current environmental issues. It provides an introduction to the major federal environmental laws, including the Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, RCRA (waste disposal), and CERCLA ("Superfund") statutes. It also introduces students to the local counterparts to these national statutes, and to the common law actions useful for individuals or communities seeking to address specific environmental concerns. The goals of the course are to provide students of the environmental and related sciences with:

· A basic understanding of the central statutes and legal framework by which the work of environmental science professionals is applied within the jurisdictions of the United States of America

· Insight into how various environmental challenges of the modern world are resolved in the nation's courts and legislatures.

This is a graduate level course; interested individuals must have earned a bachelor's degree.

For more information about the Environmental Science Program at the University of Guam visit www.uog.edu/environmentalscience or contact Dr. John Jenson at 735-2689 or jjenson@uguam.uog.edu This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .