FOR- Programs - Puerto Rico

Terry Jeng’s eyes grew wide when she saw the stack of nearly 400 letters from citizens from all over the United States and Puerto Rico. Jeng was one of a dozen Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials who met with activists to receive part of the more than 2,500 comments sent to the EPA by October 12 regarding the designation of Vieques and Culebra as a Superfund site on the National Priorities List (NPL).The vast majority of letters that were sent supported the Superfund designation ..

Activists from FOR, the United Methodist Church, Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques, Center for Public Environmental Oversight, and the National Puerto Rico Coalition met with EPA representatives to deliver public comments and advocate a cleanup protective of the islands’ health and environment.

Activists deliver a thousand pages of public comments to EPA officials. From L to R: Carmen de Seda and Kery Wilkie Nuñez, National Puerto Rico Coalition; Rev. Eliezer Valentín, United Methodist Church; Manuel Mirabal, NPRC; Wanda Resto Torres, FOR; Terry Jeng, EPA; Sonia Dueño, FOR.
Credit: FOR

Sonia Ivette Dueño of FOR indicated that support groups in the United States are active and alert to continue supporting the fulfillment of the Viequenses’ demands. She added that the thousand pages of public comments came not only from nearly every state in the US, but also from Japan, Sweden, Canada, and Virgin Islands, proving that there continue to be both national and international interest and support for the people of Vieques.

The meeting in Washington was connected via video conference with EPA offices in New York City and San Juan, Puerto Rico. In San Juan, Myrna Pagán from Vieques represented the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques. Pagán demanded a complete investigation of the hydrology of the island, saying that the Viequenses do not want decisions about land use or about the existing levels of contamination to be made based on federal studies done to date, which she said were defective.

The EPA explained that goals for the cleanup would be determined by “reasonably anticipated future uses” of the lands to be cleaned up. One official indicated that the agency, at least initially, would follow existing law to determine future uses, which prohibits public entrance to the former bombing area and restricts uses of other lands as a wildlife refuge of the Department of the Interior. FOR activists noted that existing restrictions on land use do not recognize the reality of public use of the lands, and that not even the Navy was able to prevent the public from using the lands and waters in the area.

In relation to Culebra, Jeng said that the Army is still negotiating with Puerto Rico. If they do not reach agreement, then the EPA will put Culebra on the NPL, she said.

Aimee Houghton of the Center for Public Environmental Oversight suggested that the Army is cleaning up Culebra as a result of the pressure created by the nomination of Culebra to the NPL. “In the absence of NPL listing,” said Houghton, “the Army Corps of Engineers has never done anything significant to address munitions hazards on Culebra, and it plans to do little more.”She pointed out that the Army Corps had reduced its projected costs for cleanup on Culebra by more than $100 million between 2002 and 2003, although it had spent virtually no money on cleanup in that time.

Walter Mugdan of the EPA indicated that several documents key to the listing process will be published for public comment at the same time in March next year.These include the plan to investigate the 47 sites in eastern Vieques; the cleanup plan for 12 initial sites; and the determination on “background” levels of heavy metals and other substances in Vieques.

These background levels are important because the Navy maintains that some contaminants naturally occur at high levels in Vieques, and that as a result the Navy is not responsible for cleaning up at those levels, even if they are harmful to human health. Activists say that the island is not naturally toxic, and the Navy has set background levels too high, based on sampling in already contaminated areas.

The FOR’s Wanda Resto Torres urged the EPA to comply with the Civil Rights Act provision requiring that information be provided in the language of the relevant population. Walter Mugdan indicated that the agency would help to obtain funds to support the community’s revision of documents, and that executive summaries and fact sheets would be provided in Spanish.

According to EPA representatives, as a result of a meeting last year organized by FOR, the EPA has provided a grant for technical assistance to groups in Puerto Rico to obtain their own experts for document review and for other community outreach efforts.