Whelden: Initial statements on DEIS ‘too broad’

The initial statements presented by a third party consultant on a draft environmental impact statement on proposed military activities are “too broad,” an official of the U.S. military said.

“The statements I have seen they’ve made in recent days, are a little too broad for me to comment on, because I don’t know exactly what they mean when they say that the legality of it (draft EIS) is inadequate, or alternatives have not been considered, or we (military) have not engaged enough with the CNMI public,” Craig Whelden, executive director of the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific, said.

Gov. Eloy S. Inos met with Lt. Gen. Anthony Crutchfield, the deputy commander of the U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii, on Wednesday on Capital Hill to discuss proposed military activities on the CNMI. (Joel D. Pinaroc)

Whelden was referring to Dentons US LLC, which was recently hired to conduct a third party review of the impact documents.

Dentons presented its initial review of the documents and described the said documents as “inadequate” from a legal standpoint.

“Those are things that I’ve asked to be more specific. If you think we’re not in compliance with NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) law, tell us what exactly what we’re not in compliance with,” Whelden said, commenting on Dentons’ initial findings.

Whelden also contested one major concern of Dentons, which earlier said the military also did not examine enough alternatives.

“One example (that Dentons cited) was ‘we (the military) did not examine enough alternatives.’ But if they check Page 4 (of the draft EIS) of the executive summary, it tells you of three years’ worth of study done that brought us the CNMI,” Whelden said.

The official said he is “not sure exactly how they came to the conclusion that we did not look at all the alternatives.”

“I need to hear from the Dentons group more directly, more specifically so we can address their questions,” Whelden said.

Whelden also said he is aware of the planned public hearings on the draft EIS that Dentons and CNMI departments will conduct and that the military will be in attendance.

Aside from the public hearings, Whelden said the military is also open to meet with Dentons.

“We have said all along before they were hired that we are open to meeting with Dentons and answer any questions that they may have. To date, nobody from Dentons contacted us, but the invitation is open,” Whelden said. “If they have questions a out our documents that they are unsure of, they can contact us and we’ll be happy to answer them.”

Public comments

Whelden said the good news on the hiring of the consulting firm is that the military will now have more comments on the draft EIS.

He said the military will welcome comments not just not just from the public but from technical advisors as well, referring to Dentons.

He stressed that there are over a thousand comments on the draft EIS and that “we will assess and address each and every one of them, before we get to a final EIS now scheduled for release late summer in 2016.”

Tinian visit

High-ranking U.S. military officials met with Gov. Eloy S. Inos on Tuesday to discuss the draft EIS.

Lt. Gen. Anthony Crutchfield, the deputy commander of the U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii; and Rear Adm. Bette Bolivar, commander, Joint Region Marianas and U.S. Pacific Command’s Defense Representative for CNMI, were at the meeting along with Whelden.

Crutchfield said he will fly to Tinian after meeting to talk with representatives of Tinian. He said efforts to be on the ground will always be important, which is why he making the trip.