Vieques Libre - http://www.viequeslibre.org
Request For Full EIS on Vieques
Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 15:20:09 -0700
From: cpeo@cpeo.org
Subject: Request For Full EIS on Vieques
[CPEO was asked by the organization below to post the following letter that was sent to EPA Region II. The letter requests that EPA require the Navy to do a full Environmental Impact Statement on Navy land located on the western portion of Vieques that is in the process of being transfered.--Aimee Houghton]
Union for the Protection of the Environment of Vieques
PO Box 1504
Vieques, PR 00765
787-741-0584
April 2, 2000
Ms. Jeanne Fox
Administrative Director
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 2
290 Broadway , 26th Floor
New York, NY 10007-1866
Dear Ms. Fox,
By means of this letter we wish to inform you of our certainty that the undertaking of an EIS is required for the Department of the Navy, NAF Vieques property to be transferred to the Government of Puerto Rico. We are convinced that essentially important, site-specific characterization, assessment, and survey of this military facility can only be effectively provided by means of an Environmental Impact Statement. Accurate risk evaluations that consider the impact of contamination and potential health effects are vital for the proper transfer of these lands.
This facility has been active since 1941 operating as a division of the Naval Station Roosevelt Roads Weapons Department. Its operation has involved maintenance of over a hundred ammunition storage depots containing, explosives, missiles, torpedoes and other ordinance. There are a munitions loading and unloading pier and causeway, as well as underground storage tanks located there. A RCRA OB/OD EOD range, in use for 40 years, for the disposal of NAF, AFWTF, and Marine Force operations UXO's, waste and unserviceable military materials, as well as testing and development of military weapons is located at NAF.
As of yet, the exact boundaries of this EOD range have not been described. The chemical component of the materials stored and disposed of is not known. Extensive areas of NAF were used for decades, by the Marine Forces, as maneuver areas and landing beaches for training exercises.
Three CERCLA identified disposal landfills are located there also.
As we have discussed with EPA region II, over the past year we have been reviewing the long outdated EIS 1979 and the Administrative Record File (ARF) documents. Assistance with this review has been provided by Center for Public Environmental Oversight (CPEO), Director Lenny Siegel, and other technical assistance has been provided by Northeastern Hazardous Substance Research Center, TOSC Program of New Jersey Institute of Technology and Metropolitan University of Puerto Rico.
We insist that an EIS is required and that the EIS provide for commentary from the regulatory agencies and the public in its development. I am also sending this request to Captain James Starke, Jr., Property Manager, Vieques. I look forward to your response.
Sincerely, Stacie Notine
Union for the Protection of the Environment of Vieques (UPMAV)
Vieques Conservation and Historical Trust (VCHT)
El Comite Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques
(CPRDV)