The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal from the U.S. Air Force over open detonation of obsolete munitions on Tarague Beach in Guam. The site holds cultural importance for the CHamoru people and sits above the island's main drinking water aquifer. A federal appeals court had ruled in favor of requiring environmental analysis under NEPA.
Tarague Beach, part of Andersen Air Force Base in northern Guam, is the focus of a legal battle. The Air Force seeks to continue open detonations of legacy munitions there, a practice for which it has applied for permits since 1982. The beach overlies Guam's sole-source aquifer, supplying 80 percent of the island's drinking water, and supports endangered sea turtles and migratory seabirds. CHamoru activist Moneaka Flores, whose family once owned land there for coconut cultivation, pig raising, and fishing, views the Supreme Court appeal as a delay. “This is actually a delay for justice for us,” Flores said. “We were moving forward in the District Court, and I consider this move by the Department of War to challenge it at the Supreme Court as a strategy to delay justice for our people and to answer to the law.” In 2022, Flores and her group Prutehi Litekyan sued, arguing the Air Force must analyze alternatives under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). A 2018 National Academies report confirmed less-polluting options exist. Last year, a federal appeals court sided with them, but the Air Force appealed, claiming compliance with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) suffices, without needing NEPA's broader review. The case carries broader implications. Neil Weare of Right to Democracy noted it fits a trend of Supreme Court deference to federal power in territories. David Henkin of Earthjustice, representing the plaintiffs, said a ruling could take another year and emphasized NEPA's requirement for holistic reviews, including cultural impacts. Flores linked it to historical land seizures post-World War II, when the military took nearly two-thirds of Guam, and ongoing environmental concerns.