Last word from Howard Cole

This will be the last letter that I will be writing in reply to Mr. Camacho’s letters. It is not worth my time or effort to discuss issues with someone that does not understand them or takes things out of context. As for Secretary Rice, I would not even call her doctor.

We all have views on titles and how they should be used. My view on the use of titles just doesn’t agree with Mr. Camacho’s.

As for my expertise, I have a Bachelor of Science in Conservation of Natural Resources from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master of Science in Instructional Technology from the University of Southern Mississippi. I have taught classes in environmental science and resource management in the CNMI for over 15 years, and have kept up with the literature in these areas. Additional, I am a life member of the Sierra Club, and a member of the Audubon Society and the Nature Conservancy. I feel that I do have the expertise to discuss environmental issues that face the CNMI, unlike Mr. Camacho. By the way, what are Mr. Camacho’s areas of expertise, besides writing letters to the editor?

Now to the first issue that Mr. Camacho points out in his reply, I never said that Pagan was federal or private land. These are words that Mr. Camacho has put into my mouth. I know that Pagan is CNMI public land, as almost anyone that lives in the CNMI knows. Yes, an Environmental Impact Report will be required for commercial development on Pagan, as it is on any island in the CNMI. Local laws in the CNMI do require EIRs when public lands are used for development.

In Mr. Camacho’s first letter, he stated that, “The rationale for EIRs stems from the fact that development, e.g., residential, commercial, and industrial, must not take place at the expense of the destruction and degradation of the environment.” I was responding to the fact that Mr. Camacho is implying that EIRs are always required for any kind of development, even on private land. No they are not. Again, Mr. Camacho did not read my letter carefully and took things out of context: four paragraphs worth of out of context.

May I ask again, Mr. Camacho, where is the one EIR, for development, that does not have a negative impact that I asked for in my first letter? I am still waiting.

As for golf courses, I never said that they don’t do environmental damage. Again Mr. Camacho puts words into my mouth. Of course, golf courses cause environmental damage or degradation because of their heavy use of pesticides and fertilizers. They can cause serious water pollution, and in addition, they use two valuable island resources, land and water. What I was trying to point out, which Mr. Camacho completely missed, was that companies that use public land for development do not submit an EIR until after they have secured a lease. Again, Mr. Camacho has shown that he does not know when an EIR is required in the development process on public land. Just to make it clear for Mr. Camacho, an EIR is required after a lease is acquired but before the permits for development are issued. Again, Mr. Camacho has confused the leasing process with the permitting process for development. Both are separate issues as I have previously pointed out.

Now to answer some of the questions that Mr. Camacho has asked of me.

“Since Mr. Cole is acknowledging the negative ramifications of mining of pozzolan and limestone, then will he concur with me that the requirement for an EIR is necessary to produce and a significant document to have in place prior to the completion of any permit process?” Of course the answer is yes, as I stated in my letter. Again with this question, Mr. Camacho is confusing the permitting process with the leasing of the land. As for having an EIR done before the land is leased, the answer is no. Once a lease is secured, that does not mean that the permit to mine Pagan will be issued. One does not lead automatically to the other. We have a lot of public land here on Tinian that was leased for development but never developed. No EIRs were required for the leases, but if development had occurred, than EIRs would have been required for the permits to proceed with the development.

“So is Mr. Cole saying that the economic, political, and/or social benefits should take precedence over what happens to the environment? Again, the answer should be a simple yes or no.” First off, I never said that economic, political, and/or social benefits should take precedence over the environment. What I said is that in making development decisions all issues must be considered, and no one concern should take precedence over another, as Mr. Camacho seems to think the environment should. As for a simple yes or no answer, that is not possible because these are complex issues that are not black or white.

I would like to take issue with the word “annihilation” that Mr. Camacho is using to describe mining of Pagan. In my Webster’s Dictionary annihilation means, “to cease to exist, to destroy a considerable part of, or to vanquish completely.” First, mining will not cause Pagan to cease to exist. Second, has Mr. Camacho been to Pagan? I have and I have seen the destruction caused by the 1981 and 1993 eruptions. When a volcano goes off, a large part of the ecosystem is destroyed. So I guess, the volcano has already annihilated Pagan, and I don’t see how mining will cause more harm to Pagan’s ecosystems. Maybe, Mr. Camacho believes that mining will completely remove Pagan so that it no longer exists as an island?

As for the fees and other questions that Mr. Camacho asks, I didn’t write about them. Ask the authors of the other letters about the benefits of mining to the CNMI and people of Pagan, because I really don’t know.

I never suggested “that the mining of pozzolan on Pagan will be the financial panacea.” But, I live in the CNMI, unlike Mr. Camacho, and I know what is going on here better than he does. These are financially difficult times, which started long before the Babauta administration. All that Mr. Camacho seems to be able do is point fingers. Shouldn’t we be looking for solutions together instead?

Howard W. Cole
Marpo Valley, Tinian