Support Grows for P.R. Islanders Defying U.S. Navy

by Susan Soltero

Welcome to Vieques. The sleepy island sits off the east coast of Puerto Rico and is a vacationer's paradise. The lack of industries has kept the island's 35 miles of white beaches, coral reefs and mangroves virtually intact for years. A bioluminescent bay is one of just a few in the world where microscopic plankton glow in the dark.

Puerto Rico has been a part of the United States since it was invaded in 1898 and handed over from Spain to U.S. hands. In the 1940s, the U.S. government decided to use the island of Vieques for target practice after establishing a base in the eastern tip of the "big" island. In 1947 the U.S. Navy began expropriating land, eventually confiscating two-thirds of the island for military installations and a target range. The Navy controls the eastern and western end of Vieques. The population of 10,000 is crowded into the middle section of the island, roughly 16 miles long and four miles wide.

The shelling occurs only on the eastern tip of Vieques, 11 miles from the main town. But years of occupation have taken their toll. Unemployment is high, and the patience of the residents has run out.

Over the years, the Navy has dropped millions of bombs on Vieques, never warning residents when the exercises begin. Sometimes they make mistakes. By their own admission, several years ago they dropped Agent Orange near the town. An inquiry through the Freedom of Information Act revealed the use of depleted uranium munitions early this year. And in April, one man was killed and four others injured when a missile fired by an F-16 fighter hit the observation post. The people of Vieques said enough is enough.

Cancer rates are much higher than normal. They would like to develop ecotourism, using the island's endangered species, such as sea turtles and manatees and the world's three most beautiful phosphorescent bays to attract visitors from around the world.

They would love to get rid of the noise and the hassle of having to ask the Navy for permission to travel from one side of the island to the other.

Since the accident that killed the civilian in April, a group of protesters has taken over the beach used for the bombings. Because the land was formerly out of reach, the view was surprising for the people of Vieques, accustomed as they are to pristine beaches. The karst limestone formations are destroyed. Lagoons are dry. Craters are everywhere. Coral reefs are destroyed. For years the Navy claimed it cleaned up the area, but the land and water is still littered with thousands of unspent shells.

The Navy asked the protesters to leave, saying that the protesters are on federal land and the Navy feared for their safety.

But the protesters have stayed, and they have rallied support from the majority of Puerto Rican people, including Governor Pedro Rossello.

A special panel to investigate health problems in Vieques was convened. The recommendation: that the Navy vacate the island. But the Navy insists it will stay.

The protesters hired an independent group to conduct tests on the soil. The investigators from Pace Analytical Services, Inc. based in New Orleans took samples from three points in the bombing range. The results revealed that years of bombing had left traces of 11 metals and cyanide in the soil. They include arsenic, barium, cadmium, cobalt, lead, mercury, vanadium and zinc. The quantities found in at least four of the compounds would put the site on the Superfund list.

The bombing easily lifts these compounds into the easterly trade winds, blowing he toxic metals right into the town center.

The Puerto Rican government ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct its own test to confirm the findings. The EPA has previously had no access to the area. The Navy claims it has run its own set of tests even though Navy officials will not release the results to reporters.

This week the Navy turned away the EPA, asking agency officials to sign papers stating the EPA would not use the results of the testing in any future actions against the Navy. The EPA refused and responded by not granting the Navy a discharge permit required for the Navy to conduct military exercises on the island (even though the permit had expired ten years ago).

So, the bombings have temporarily been stopped. The protesters say they will not leave. The Navy says the same. Congress will be reviewing the Puerto Rican's government's request that the Navy turn over the land in committee in a few weeks. Massive protests against the bombing are planned in New York and Los Angeles.

In the meantime, nature has taken advantage of the break in the action to start taking over what it once owned. At least a dozen hawksbill turtles have laid their eggs under the watchful eye of the protesters camping out.

What may move the protesters may not be the U.S. Navy. Hurricane season has begun in the Caribbean. But no hurricane promises to make this controversy go away until it is settled one way or another.