Tarague Beach, a tropical expanse of white sand on the island of Guam, is home to sea turtles, migratory seabirds and reef fish. But its future now rests with the Supreme Court, which will hear arguments on whether the U.S. Air Force can continue to use it to dispose of expired rockets, bombs and hazardous waste munitions. The dispute pits Prutehi Guahan, a local nonprofit dedicated to protecting Guam’s natural and cultural resources, against the U.S. military, which has long maintained a major presence on the island.
Guam’s proximity to Asia — it’s closer to Beijing than to Hawaii — has made it an increasingly important military outpost. That presence has only grown in recent years with rising tensions in the Pacific. Military experts often refer to the small island — about 170,000 people live on its 210 square miles, roughly five times smaller than Rhode Island — as the tip of the spear for American military might in the region.
Tarague Beach is near the northern tip of the island, within the bounds of Andersen Air Force Base, and for decades the military has used it a place to destroy expired munitions. The leaders of Prutehi Guahan have challenged the practice, arguing that the explosions threaten the fragile marine ecosystem, nearby archaeological remains, traditional fishing sites, and the island’s water supply, sending dangerous toxins and debris hurtling into the air and the water. The legal question for the Supreme Court is a technical one about whether the Air Force followed environmental regulations as it sought a permit in recent years to continue detonations on the beach.
In court filings, the Air Force has said that the detonation site is crucial for disposing of hazardous waste and that although it must reapply for a permit every three years, that process is meant to ensure ordinary compliance with the rules and not impose new restrictions. The challengers say that the dispute is deeply personal. They argue that enforcing federal environmental laws is among the few ways for Guam residents — who are U.S. citizens by birth but who cannot vote for the president — to make their voices heard against the powerful U.S. military. “It’s truly one of the only mechanisms that we have to have an impact on federal projects that will permanently alter our physical landscape, our environment, our cultural resources and our daily lives,” said Monaeka Flores, executive director of Prutehi Guahan, who is Chamorro, the Indigenous people of Guam. Ms. Flores, whose family has deep roots in Guam, said that her relatives took shelter on the beach when Japan attacked the island hours after Pearl Harbor, hiding from the bombing and fishing for food.
Her great-grandfather, Luis, ranched and farmed the land, cultivating coconuts and raising pigs. Ms. Flores’s parents used to go on camping trips near the beach. After she was born, they brought her to the clear waters to learn to swim. Near the beach is the site of what is thought to be a more than 3,000-year-old Chamorro village, with stone megaliths and prehistoric rock paintings.
The Guam National Wildlife Refuge, a protected area for fruit bats, birds and turtles, is only a few hundred yards away. “This is part of the collective memory, and therefore collective stewardship, of the Chamorro people,” she said. “We need to preserve it for all future generations, and everybody should have a chance to come and appreciate how special the area is.” Since 1982, the U.S. Air Force has used the beach as a site for disposing of unexploded ordnance — tear gas, ammunition and other explosives — some dating back to World War II. The military set up what it calls an open detonation site on the sand. Prutehi Guahan argues that when the Air Force reapplied for a permit from the Guam Environmental Protection Agency to continue the explosions in May 2021, it did so without p...
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