In a push to pause the federal government’s proposal to open over 35 million acres of waters in the Marianas for mineral extraction, one veteran policymaker has introduced a resolution to show Guam’s unity against this action.  A public hearing for the resolution will be held next Wednesday ahead of the January 12 deadline, with Senator Therese Terlaje calling on the community to testify. 

Senator Terlaje is calling on the community to testify on whether the legislature should adopt a resolution that urges the federal government to suspend plans for the deep sea mining within our region.  Her Resolution No. 132-38 (COR) was introduced last week ahead of the deadline to submit comments on the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's request for information, with bipartisan support from nine other senators. 

"It’s urgent because we want to meet that deadline, because so far, that’s the only process in place for the people of Guam or the CNMI to actually have an input to what they are actually going to do along our Marianas islands chain," she told KUAM News via Zoom. The senator says the BOEM public comment process failed to give Guam a meaningful voice with the 60 day deadline. 

"I don’t think that’s adequate at all, especially as they’ve given us pretty much nothing else. No studies to show how this will impact anyone; they’ve done none," she said. She adds they’ve done nothing to try to receive the “consent of the people” who will “bear the impact of the project" with no real benefit. 

As reported, island leaders and community advocates say deep sea mining poses major risks, such as irreversible damage to marine ecosystems, local fisheries and the cultural connection to the ocean. 

"That’s pretty much the only given here, is that the impact will be felt locally," she detailed. "It’s going to be felt along the islands of the Marianas, including Guam. It’s going to be felt by those who rely on the ocean. It’s going to be felt by all of us, because our lives here on the island rely on our oceans thriving."

She adds the public comment period is not a consent process, as BOEM is not required to comply with any of the requests within the comments. It’s a reality for American Samoa, another United States territory eyed for offshore mineral extraction. 

"They sent in thousands of comments and what happened afterward was BOEM expanded the area they’re going to mine," she said. "I’m hoping this resolution, if passed by the Guam Legislature, will show that we are united in our opposition to adverse impacts without any benefits and that we need them to pause and reconsider."

She urges the community to submit comments ahead of the January 12 deadline and to testify for the resolution, adding, "So I’m asking everyone to join all of us in commenting so they know the extent of our unity on this issue, that we want to protect our seas, that we want to protect the health of the people of Guam and the CNMI, and that we want to make sure we will not bear the risk of something we will not benefit from."

The legislature will hold a public hearing for the resolution on January 7 at 8:30am.