[CPEO-MEF] MUNITIONS: Saipan detonation

[Lenny Siegel <lennysiegel@gmail.com>]

Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger
News Release
May 21, 2008


CSWAB Leverages Limitations on Deadly WWII Munitions on Saipan

SAIPAN - EPA Region 9 has agreed to prohibit open detonation of 
chemical, radiological, and biological munitions that might be found on 
Saipan, the largest island and capital of the United States Commonwealth 
of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), a chain of 15 tropical islands 
in the western Pacific Ocean.  The prohibition is the direct result of 
intervention by concerned community members. The designated detonation 
area is located on Marpi Point, a public lands property on Saipan that 
overlooks the Pacific Ocean. CNMI plans to clear nearby tropical rain 
forest lands and grant them to over 500 indigenous individuals and 
families for new homesteads.

The final hazardous waste permit will still allow the CNMI Department of 
Public Safety to collect and detonate millions of pounds of WWII 
munitions that threaten the environment and the safety of its residents. 
The majority of unexploded and abandoned ordnance, including artillery 
shells, grenades and bullets are found on virtually all of the islands 
of the CNMI. They are attributed to the United States and Japanese 
battle for Saipan and the U.S. build-up for the attacks on the Japanese 
mainland. The permit for Saipan is expected to serve as a model for 
other islands including Tinian and Rota.

Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger (CSWAB) submitted detailed written 
comments with support from local residents of Saipan which resulted in 
permit conditions that will "categorically prohibit" open burning or 
detonation of munitions wastes containing chemical warfare agent, 
biological warfare material, radiological hazardous wastes, and chemical 
agent contaminated media.

The U.S. EPA did not agree to ban open burning and detonation of 
smoke-filled and incendiary munitions. CSWAB argued that detonation of 
munitions containing systemic poisons such as white phosphorus (used for 
signaling, screening, and incendiary purposes) disperses minute 
phosphorus particles over a large area. White phosphorus is highly toxic 
to waterfowl and may be magnified up the food chain. Contamination in 
various fish tissues has been shown to be toxic or lethal if ingested.

CSWAB agreed with EPA that there is an urgent need to immediately 
retrieve and safely treat munitions wastes found at Saipan but said that 
the remedy should not cause further contamination of the environment. 
Open burning and open detonation have, by definition, no pollution 
controls and cause the uncontrolled release of toxic emissions and 
particulates to the surrounding land and sea.

EPA acknowledged that there are alternatives technologies that do not 
pose the same risks to the environment but contended that CNMI's 
resources for cleanup of unexploded ordnance found throughout the island 
are limited. The hazards of leaving them in place where they can 
accidentally detonate when people find them are far greater than the 
hazards of open detonation, EPA said. Officials also argued that the 
situation at Saipan is unique because there is no U.S. military presence 
on the island territory. The local government has volunteered to address 
an issue that it did not create, EPA added.

In early April, the EPA announced a total of $400,000 in Brownfields 
grants to CNMI. The CNMI Division of Environmental Quality will receive 
$200,000 to continue assessment of hazardous substance sites and support 
community outreach activities. Another $200,000 will be provided to the 
CNMI Department of Public Lands for the cleanup of WWII unexploded 
ordnance on the northern end of Saipan.

Munitions that were disposed offshore in Saipan also pose a hazard to 
the public. EPA said that the CNMI government hopes to survey and 
inventory submerged munitions in the near future.

...

Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger
E12629 Weigand's Bay South
Merrimac, WI 53561
(608) 643-3124 phone
(608) 643-0005 fax
info@cswab.org
www.cswab.org

For the original press release plus downloadable attachments, go to 
www.cswab.org.

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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