Northern Islands Mayor Jerome Aldan and Marine Forces Pacific executive director Craig B. Whelden met yesterday at Aldan\u2019s office to discuss the military\u2019s planned use of Pagan, plans for the island\u2019s resettlement, and the National Environment Act Policy process currently ongoing.<\/p>\n
Aldan, who in the past has been a staunch opponent to any use of Pagan by the military, appeared to have a change of heart after the meetings. Now he says he \u201cwants to continue dialogue\u201d and \u201cnot shut off the military\u201d as far as Pagan is concerned.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mentioned that in the past I don\u2019t think we can co-exist but speaking to Mr. Whelden today, there\u2019s got to be a different approach to this. Because a lot of the information I got from him today is more informative of what the military is actually trying to do on Pagan island.\u201d<\/p>\n
The talk yesterday has changed his view that the military will just \u201ccome in and bomb the entire area into oblivion,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike any other person, when you hear the military you think about destruction. Let\u2019s say, for example, Farallon de Medinilla\u2014they\u2019re bombing that. But according to Mr. Whelden, that is not the case right now and they are good stewards of the environment. So we are going to try to work this [NEPA] process, go through with that, and see what\u2019s at the end of the line and maybe we can have a firmer decision when we reach the end,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Pagan has been proposed, along with Tinian, to develop joint military training in the CNMI. Right now there is a plan to have combined live fire and maneuver training on Pagan.<\/p>\n
According to Whelden yesterday, the impact area of live fire, with \u201csome munitions use,\u201d would be restricted to the volcanic area in the northern part of Pagan.<\/p>\n
The live fire area would have a surface danger zone around it, Whelden said. This would take into account \u201cerror right and left, far and short.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the surface danger zone would be limited to areas that don\u2019t have flora or fauna, so that \u201cwe can protect Pagan in its very pristine state.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe military\u2014in modern times\u2014has a pretty good record of being good stewards to the environment,\u201d Whelden said in an interview, adding that he has extended an invitation to Aldan to visit Hawaii so he can see \u201chow Marines train\u201d and \u201cwhy Marines train.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aldan and Whelden also talked about the resettlement or homesteading of Pagan and \u201chow we can cohabitate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe military only plans to use Pagan about 16 weeks per year, and that means there are many weeks where the military wouldn\u2019t be there,\u201d said Whelden.<\/p>\n
The live fire area would be in public space. Two alternatives for the live fire training have been proposed, each of different sizes that would be \u201cbasically centered around the [northern] volcanic area where there is just rock lava\u201d versus the south where \u201cthere is more pristine fauna and flora,\u201d according to Whelden.<\/p>\n
The preferred alternative will be out in the draft environmental impact statement due by the end of April. Whelden assured that the decision will \u201ctake into concerns of all the Northern Islands people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Public hearings will follow in May, with probably two hearings on Saipan and one on Tinian, according to the director. One of the Saipan meetings will be \u201cfocused on the folks from the Northern islands,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The DEIS has been delayed, with its release pushed back from last year to February or March this year, and now to April.<\/p>\n
The reason for this is because the military \u201chas heard about the concerns that the CNMI has,\u201d Whelden said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are trying to craft a solution that is closer to meeting the needs and the desires of the people of the CNMI\u201d so that the military \u201ccan put more due diligence in our efforts to address some of the concerns,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
On Tinian, concerns range from cattle leaseback area, the solid waste disposal, special use airspace, and building on the Tinian airport, among others, that must be addressed to support military activities.<\/p>\n
Whelden described the EIS as \u201chalfway through.\u201d A Record of Decision will probably be due in the summer of 2016.<\/p>\n
Aldan, while expressing he\u2019s willing to continue dialogue, clarified that \u201cthere is no position here right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to say that I\u2019m confident that we can co-exist because the military is tricky. But given that they are paying for all these studies, let them do the studies\u201d and \u201clet the process play out and use it to our advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the military is paying millions to study historical areas and assess the environmental impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving that information for us is good for us,\u201d he said, and encouraged the CNMI public to join in on the public hearings later this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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