Why Are We in Vieques? (Cont.)

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Outside Magazine October 2001

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Why Are We in Vieques? (Cont.)

IN FACT, THERE ARE many places on the coast of the U.S. mainland that are ideal for such practice maneuvers. (This summer the Pentagon released an August 2000 study concluding that a number of bases in Florida and North Carolina could work as substitutes for Vieques.) But most of these sites are near mainland communities represented by members of Congress who can hold hearings and subpoena naval officials and subject them to troubling interrogations about the health and environmental impacts of these exercises. Viequenses, who are predominately of Taino Indian and African heritage, have no voting representation in Congress and therefore lack the political heft to keep the Navy out. Away from the microphones, many senior naval officers admit that, more than any other factor, Vieques's lack of congressional representation makes it uniquely appealing as a bombing range.

But whatever justifications the Navy offers for the strategic importance of its presence on Vieques, these must be weighed against the devastating effect the bombing has had on the island's 9,300 inhabitants and their environment. In 1999, a report compiled by the Special Commission on Vieques for the governor's office cited studies suggesting that Vieques suffers the highest infant-mortality rate and highest overall mortality rate in Puerto Rico. The report also cited a study conducted by the Puerto Rico Department of Health which asserted that from 1980 to 1989, the risk of developing cancer was greater in Vieques than the rest of Puerto Rico. Many residents have been found to carry dangerous flesh loads of contaminants, including cadmium, arsenic, mercury, lead, and uranium. High concentrations of heavy metals have also been found in soil, groundwater, fish, and crabs and can be linked to the detonation of naval ordnance. According to preliminary findings of a December 2000 study conducted by a Puerto Rican medical team, many Viequenses suffer high levels of vibroacoustic disease, a potentially lethal thickening of the membrane around the heart caused by persistent exposure to sonic booms.

Although the impact on human health may be the most egregious, the clearest and most demonstrable statutory violations, in my opinion, involve the Navy's failure to meet the requirements of the Endangered Species Act. The ESA requires that a federal agency (or any other entity or individual) must complete a biological assessment before it disturbs an area where endangered species are known to exist. There are 14 federally designated threatened and endangered species in the naval maneuver area: brown pelicans; Antillean manatees; leatherback, green, hawksbill, and loggerhead sea turtles; four species of whales—finback, humpback, sperm, and sei; and four plant species. Indeed, one of the largest pelican rookeries in the Caribbean sits on Cayo Conejo, a rocky outcropping off the southern coast of the impact zone. There have been numerous instances of amphibious landings on beaches where turtles nest, and of bombs landing in waters where whales and manatees swim. And yet the Navy has never completed a proper biological assessment on any of these species, despite being ordered to do so by the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service. Black-letter case law states that any agency that fails to do a biological assessment must be enjoined from continuing activities in that area until the assessment is performed. Vieques looked to me like an airtight Endangered Species Act case.

Many Viequenses carry dangerous flesh loads of contaminants, like arsenic,lead, and mercury. Heavy metals found in the soil, water, fish, and crabs have been directly linked to the detonation of Naval ordnance.

(The Navy, for its part, claims that it has "an excellent record preserving the environment on Vieques." In a letter sent to Outsidewhile this article was being prepared, the public affairs office of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet asserted that "the area on Vieques where weapons are dropped is only 900 acres.... Weapons are not dropped on the vast majority of Navy land, which is kept in environmentally pristine condition.")

In August 2000, I filed actions against the Navy on behalf of the NRDC and two dozen other plaintiff groups for violating environmental law and the civil rights of the Viequenses. Two months later, on October 10, we filed a motion in federal court in San Juan requesting a preliminary injunction against the Navy to prevent further bombing until a trial could be held. Our clients were disappointed when the case was assigned to Chief U.S. District Court Judge Hector Laffitte, who they believed was strongly sympathetic to the Navy. I filed a series of motions asking that the judge act, yet Laffitte sat on our injunction for eight months and did nothing as the Navy conducted a new series of bombing exercises.

When the Navy resumed bombing again, in April 2001, I was faced with a difficult decision. The Viequenses were largely convinced that naval power could trump every law and political institution that was relevant to their daily lives. These were people who had only the most limited political avenues. They had rights, but I had pursued legal options without achieving results. I hadn't even been able to get them their day in court. Once again, the law had failed them. With my lawyer's hands tied and the Navy poised to open fire, I could offer my clients only my civil disobedience. And so I walked into the impact zone.

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