By Carmelo Ruiz
San Juan, Puerto Rico, Dec. 31 (IPS)-- Now that the US Navy is
gone, residents of the Puerto Rican island-town of Vieques face pressing
environmental problems.
In the last four years the island’s 10,000 residents, together
with Puerto Ricans from the main island and peace activists from around
the world, carried out a relentless civil disobedience campaign against
the Navy, which for decades used the island as a munitions depot and
firing range.
The military left officially May 1. But now Vieques must deal with the
daunting question of what to do about the toxic mess caused by decades
of military activity. Weapons tested in the firing range included highly
polluting depleted uranium ammunition.
Most of the former military lands — which include about 80 percent
of the island — are now the Vieques National Wildlife Refuge, administered
by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).
Measuring 7,527 ha (of the island’s total 13,355 ha), it is the
largest wilderness refuge in all of Puerto Rico, which is a commonwealth
of the United States, whose residents have US citizenship.
Many who opposed the Navy presence find it particularly galling that
the lands they struggled for have been transferred to another US government
agency, instead of being returned to the people of Vieques. Local fishermen
complain that FWS will not allow them to fish in the refuge, because
of the danger posed by unexploded ordnances.
“This is the same agency that stood by while the Navy bombed the
flora, fauna and wilderness, without raising a finger in protest, and
now they’re fining people for fishing crabs. This is insulting
and completely unacceptable,” declared Robert Rabin, spokesperson
of the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques.
But Vieques FWS employees interviewed by IPS, most of whom are Puerto
Ricans, stressed that they are committed to protecting the natural resources
of the lands they administer.
Refuge Manager Oscar Díaz said he does not want to see the lands
destroyed by the uncontrolled construction of beachside mansions and
tourist resorts now occurring on the main island.
“This refuge has a dry forest. That’s a treasure that must
be preserved because 94 percent of all dry forest in Puerto Rico has
been destroyed,” added Díaz.
In what many observers consider a bizarre twist, this wilderness refuge
is simultaneously a toxic disaster area. Earlier this month the US Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) recommended that the lands and marine areas
polluted by the Navy be declared a Superfund site.
Superfund is a US government program for the identification and cleanup
of areas contaminated with hazardous waste. Once an area is declared
a Superfund site, the polluting party — in this case the Navy —
is obligated to pay for its decontamination and restoration.
Puerto Rico has a dozen Superfund sites.
After the EPA recommends that an area be designated for the Superfund,
the agency solicits comments and input from the public, the polluting
party and other government bodies before making its final decision.
Although many who took part in the Vieques struggle consider the Superfund
designation a great victory, University of Puerto Rico biology professor
Arturo Massol warns that the process is a bureaucratic litany and that
20 years can pass before any cleanup even begins.
“Superfund status is no guarantee that the cleanup will be done
thoroughly and efficiently,” says Massol, who directed the only
on-site studies of military pollution in Vieques to be published in
peer-reviewed scientific literature.
“Most of the money will spend years stuck in litigation or slowed
down by administrative matters,” he added.
Massol said that if the history of Superfund in Puerto Rico is any guide,
then not much can be expected from the Vieques recommendation.
According to the professor, a Superfund site was designated in the abandoned
Sabana Seca Navy base in the town of Toa Baja. In response, a parking
lot was built over the toxic wastes, and then the EPA declared the problem
solved and removed the site from the Superfund list.
The idea that the former Navy lands should be returned to the people
of Puerto Rico also has allies in the US Congress. Congressman Joseph
Crowley, who visited Vieques last month, told IPS that transferring
the lands from the Department of Defense to the Department of the Interior
is not adequate.
“I think the lands should be transferred to the government of Puerto
Rico. Only that will assure the people that these lands will never again
be used for military purposes,” said Crowley, who added that if
Congress could assign billions of dollars to the reconstruction of Iraq,
then the decontamination of Vieques is no less than a moral obligation.
