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Tinian hearing on Chiget Range today
The U.S. Navy will present the results of their studies on the old Chiget Mortar Range today at the Tinian Public Library.
Lt. Tim Gorman, Joint Region Marianas public affairs officer, confirmed yesterday that the meeting was still on for today. It was pushed back after the telecommunications crisis last month.
Naval Facilities Engineering Command officials will discuss the results of a site inspection on the range that was completed in 2014.
The old Chiget mortar range—located near the popular Tinian Blow Hole—has been investigated under the Navy’s Military Munitions Response Program, or MRP. The 97.5 acres range was part of the World War II battlefield. It was used for live-fire training from 1945 to 1994, and has been closed since then for about 21 years.
Small-arms caliber munitions, 40-millimeter rifle grenades, 60-millimeter mortars, and 81-millimeter mortars comprised the live-fire activity on site.
According military impact documents, the Navy has given the Chiget range a priority of “4” after documenting chemical and health evaluations. MRP priorities range from 1, or highest priority, to 8, lowest priority.
The inspections confirmed the presence of metal constituents at levels “exceeding” 2008 Guam Environmental Protection Agency Pacific Basin Environmental Screening Levels for unrestricted land use where groundwater is a current or potential source of drinking water.
“Chromium and iron were the most common metals to exceed project action levels” and inspections “determined that munitions constituents concentrations did not exceed project action levels, the Navy said.
The Navy’s studies recommended “further investigation to delineate the extent and magnitude of metals contamination and to assess the potential human health and environmental risks associated with past operational practices was recommended.”
