by Mindy Aguon

Guam - The Department of Defense contends a lawsuit filed by the Guam Preservation Trust, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and We Are Guahan should be thrown out due to a lack of jurisdiction. Hawaii District Court Judge Leslie Kobayashi will hear arguments on the dismissal request on August 19.

The DOD contends the Navy has yet to issue a final decision on the specific location of the live-fire training range complex on Guam and therefore believe that without a final agency action, the case isn't ready to be heard by the court. Instead, the DOD contends that the court must wait until they've completed what they say is an ongoing review of possible locations for the training range complex.

The lawsuit was filed against the DOD for failing to provide or consider other alternatives for the firing range other than the Route 15 and Pagat area.