U.S. Airbase in Okinawa Dugong Habitat on Hold

A federal judge in San Francisco Wednesday ruled that the Department of Defense, DOD, is in violation of the National Historic Preservation Act for failing to consider the impacts of a new airbase on the dugong in order to avoid or mitigate any harm.

The act requires agencies of the U.S. government to consider the impacts on cultural and historic resources in other nations when undertaking activities outside the United States.

The dugong is classified as vulnerable by the IUCN-World Conservation Union due to habitat destruction and degradation, as well as human exploitation. The Japan Ministry of the Environment recently listed the dugong as critically endangered in Japan.

The dugong is significant in Okinawan culture. It is associated with traditional Okinawan creation mythology, and is sometimes considered to be the progenitor of the local people. Because of its cultural significance, the dugong is listed as a protected "natural monument" on the Japanese Register of Cultural Properties.

A rare Okinawan dugong (Photo courtesy Earthjustice)

U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma is located in Ginowan City on Okinawa, and due to social and economic changes, is now completely surrounded by urban development. Both the Marines and the Japanese want the facility moved out of the city.

Local residents voted against the base in a referendum, but Japanese and U.S. authorities have paid scant attention to the vote.

DOD plans call for construction of the Futenma Replacement Facility, FRF, about two miles offshore on reclaimed land and the reef next to the U.S. military's Camp Schwab. The location is in Henoko Bay and squarely in the midst of dugong habitat.

The lawsuit was brought by three individual Japanese citizens, six American and Japanese environmental associations, and the Okinawa dugong, which is listed as a plaintiff in court documents.

In her ruling, Judge Marilyn Hall Patel wrote, "The current record contains no evidence that a single official from the DOD with responsibility for the FRF has considered or assessed the available information on the dugong or the effects of the FRF."

Judge Patel ordered the Department of Defense to "submit to the court, within 90 days, information necessary to evaluate the impacts of the FRF on the dugong" and to "identify the DOD official or officials with authorization and responsibility for reviewing and considering the information for purposes of mitigation."

"The court is troubled that the 2006 Roadmap embodying final plans for the construction of the FRF has received the highest levels of approvals from the U.S. Secretaries of Defense and State. Yet, the impacts of the FRF on the dugong are currently not well-understood," wrote Judge Patel.

"Satisfaction of defendants' obligations" under the National Historic Preservation Act, "cannot be postponed until the eve of construction when defendants have made irreversible commitments making additional review futile or consideration of alternatives impossible," she wrote.

"This is a significant victory for the people of Okinawa concerned with the preservation of their cultural heritage," said Sarah Burt of Earthjustice, who is representing plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

"With this ruling, Judge Patel has made clear that the Department of Defense has an obligation to take a serious look at the impacts of its actions overseas to avoid causing irrevocable harm to the cultural heritage of another nation. This ruling will ensure that the DOD affords the dugong the protection it deserves," said Burt.

While the DOD must gather information and present it to the court, the case is not yet decided. The judge wrote, "this case is held in abeyance until the information necessary for evaluating the effects of the FRF on the dugong is generated, and until defendants take the information into account for the purpose of avoiding or mitigating adverse effects to the dugong."

U.S. plaintiffs in this case were the Center for Biological Diversity and the Turtle Island Restoration Network. They were joined by Japanese groups Save the Dugong Foundation, Committee Against Heliport Construction, and Japan Environmental Lawyers Federation. Earthjustice represented all the plaintiffs.

Peter Galvin, conservation director for the Center for Biological Diversity said, "The U.S. airbase expansion at Henoko Bay would involve filling in large areas of critical ocean habitat. It would destroy some of the last remaining habitat for the Okinawa dugong."

"We are hopeful that the court ordered review and public airing of the impacts of the project will cause the U.S. and Japanese governments to halt the base expansion plans and avoid driving the Okinawa dugong further toward extinction."

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