The Vieques, Puerto Rico, Naval Training Range was a
United States naval facility located on the island of
Vieques
Vieques (; ), officially Isla de Vieques, is an island and municipality of Puerto Rico, in the northeastern Caribbean, part of an island grouping sometimes known as the Spanish Virgin Islands. Vieques is part of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, ...
, about 5 miles east of mainland
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
. Starting in November 1941, the navy used the range for military exercises. Military operations ended in 2001, with the Navy completely leaving the area in 2003.
Searching for a location
![Graham County LST-1176](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Graham_County_LST-1176.jpg)
The Department of the Navy started searching for a location to situate a naval base during the 1940s. Land was sold by the native inhabitants between 1941 and 1950, consisting of two parcels making up 22,000 acres or about two-thirds of the island. Of that, 8,000 acres on the western end of the island was primarily used as a naval ammunition depot until the property was returned to the Municipality of Vieques on May 1, 2001.
The eastern end of the island was used for live training exercises, ship-to-shore gunfire, air-to-ground bombing and US Marine amphibious landings starting from the 1940s onward. Within that area was a 900-acre Live Impact Area (LIA) used for targeting live ordnance. The LIA was located at the eastern tip of the island and away from the civilian population.
Description of the Navy's facilities
The former Vieques Naval Training Range (VNTR) is located on the eastern half and the former Naval Ammunition Support Detachment (NASD) is located on the western one-third of the island. Located between these military sites lay the local civilian communities of
Isabel Segunda and
Esperanza
Esperanza is the Spanish word for hope, and may refer to:
Places Philippines
* Esperanza, Agusan del Sur, a municipality
* Esperanza, Masbate, a municipality
* Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat, a municipality
United States
* Esperanza, Mississippi, ...
.
Operations on East Vieques
Operations on West Vieques
Military operations on the west side of the island had been focused on storing and processing of supplies and the disposal of waste. Sites identified for environmental clean-up include the following:
[
*A former general ]waste dump
A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...
at a mangrove swamp
Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand fre ...
in Laguna Arenas along Highway 200.
*The site of a 1970 underground storage tank
An underground storage tank (UST) is, according to United States federal regulations, a storage tank, including any underground piping connected to the tank, that has at least 10 percent of its volume underground.
Definition & Regulation in U.S. ...
for waste oil removed from the former public works area in 1996.
*A former asphalt plant on the south side of Route 200, which operated from the 1960s until 1998.
An environmental baseline survey discovered a munitions open-burn/open-detonation area on the western tip of the island surrounding Punta Boca Quebrada. Further surveying identified 16 possible open-burn/open-detonation sites in the area. As a result, 24 acres of roads and beaches were inspected for munitions, cleared of munitions with clean up completed in December 2011.[
]
Base closure and clean-up
After the base was closed, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
Governor Sila Calderon requested Vieques
Vieques (; ), officially Isla de Vieques, is an island and municipality of Puerto Rico, in the northeastern Caribbean, part of an island grouping sometimes known as the Spanish Virgin Islands. Vieques is part of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, ...
be placed on the U.S. National Priorities List
The National Priorities List (NPL) is the priority list of hazardous waste sites in the United States eligible for long-term remedial investigation and remedial action (cleanup) financed under the federal Superfund program. Environmental Protec ...
as a designated superfund
Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the United States Environmental Pro ...
clean-up site. the EPA has listed the following contaminants and ordnances at the western portion of the naval station: unexploded ordnance UXO, remnants of exploded ordnance, mercury
Mercury commonly refers to:
* Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun
* Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg
* Mercury (mythology), a Roman god
Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to:
Companies
* Merc ...
, lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
, copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
, magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ta ...
, lithium
Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid el ...
, napalm
Napalm is an incendiary mixture of a gelling agent and a volatile petrochemical (usually gasoline (petrol) or diesel fuel). The name is a portmanteau of two of the constituents of the original thickening and gelling agents: coprecipitated al ...
, depleted uranium
Depleted uranium (DU; also referred to in the past as Q-metal, depletalloy or D-38) is uranium with a lower content of the fissile isotope than natural uranium.: "Depleted uranium possesses only 60% of the radioactivity of natural uranium, hav ...
along with other unspecified materials. In addition to these, the eastern portion of the site "may also include" polychlorinated biphenyl
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are highly carcinogenic chemical compounds, formerly used in industrial and consumer products, whose production was banned in the United States by the Toxic Substances Control Act in 1979 and internationally by t ...
s (PCB), solvents
A solvent (s) (from the Latin '' solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas, or a supercritical fluid. Water is a solvent for p ...
and pesticides
Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and lampric ...
.
Both US Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
and EPA are coordinating efforts to clean up Vieques.
the Navy was to "conduct an environmental investigation of its previously owned property under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), enacted in 1976, is the principal federal law in the United States governing the disposal of solid waste and hazardous waste.United States. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. , , ''et seq ...
(RCRA) to determine what cleanup actions" were needed. The EPA has provided "technical assistance and guidance to the Navy on environmental issues related to the land transfer in western Vieques." Early on it was noted that, it would be difficult to discover what measures the U.S. must take, because thick jungle growth hampers testing for contaminants. Furthermore, jungle growth cannot be easily removed because the forests are littered with unexploded ordnance.
For the remainder of Fiscal Year 2015 Congress appropriated $17 million for the cleanup of Vieques, and $1.4 million for the cleanup of Culebra. As of 2014, the Navy has spent about $220 million since 2003, to investigate and clean contaminated lands on Vieques. Since 2007, about half of the money budgeted for munitions removal has been awarded to 23 local companies in Puerto Rico.[ As of 2014, "the Navy spends more money each year to clean up Vieques than it is spending to clean up any other former Navy installation in the US".][
]
Protests against U.S. Navy 1999
The "Navy–Vieques protests" is the name given by the English-speaking
Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the '' Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest langua ...
media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...
to a series of protests starting in 1999 on the Puerto Rican island-municipality of Vieques
Vieques (; ), officially Isla de Vieques, is an island and municipality of Puerto Rico, in the northeastern Caribbean, part of an island grouping sometimes known as the Spanish Virgin Islands. Vieques is part of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, ...
. The protesters were against the use of the island by the United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
and United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
for bombing target practice.
President Clinton asked Secretary of Defense William Cohen
William Sebastian Cohen (born August 28, 1940) is an American lawyer, author, and politician from the U.S. state of Maine. A Republican, Cohen served as both a member of the United States House of Representatives (1973–1979) and Senate (1979 ...
to establish a special panel to study the situation. The four-member panel was chaired by Frank Rush, the then-acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for force management policy, and is consequently sometimes called the Rush panel. The panel laid out history and legal situation, and released its report with 11 recommendations on October 19, 1999.
In January 2000, President Clinton and then Governor of Puerto Rico, Pedro Rosselló
Pedro Juan Rosselló González, (; born April 5, 1944) is a Puerto Rican physician and politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1993 to 2001. He was President of the New Progressive Party from 1991 to 1999 and 2003 to 2008, a ...
, together called for a referendum on Vieques. This was first scheduled for November 2001, and then rescheduled for January 2002. The referendum would let voters choose to either end the military's use of the range by May 2003. Alternatively, they could vote to allow military operations to continue indefinitely.
On April 27, 2001, the Navy resumed operations and protesting resumed. On June 14, 2001, the George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
administration ordered the end of military training operations on Vieques in May 2003. The Bush decision superseded previous actions of the Clinton Administration.
Protester history
David Sanes
On April 19, 1999, a civilian employee named David Sanes Rodríguez was killed when military ordnance was dropped too close to his security post. According to a Congressional research report, a Marine Corps F-18 dropped two 500-pound bombs striking the security post killing Rodriguez and injuring four others. The F-18 was on a training mission when the incident occurred. The Congressional report states the ordnance was dropped "within the overall range perimeter." After this incident the range was temporarily closed.
The death of Rodriguez triggered a wave of protests from local residents. Then U.S. President Clinton promised, later reiterated by his successor George W. Bush, that the navy would leave Vieques by May 2003.
Encampments
A few months after Sanes's death, small wooden structures were erected inside the practice grounds, and encampments from all over the island-municipality started to attract attention.
By that time, the protests had also started to gain international attention, and people from all over the world joined the struggle. Many celebrities, including the political leader Ruben Berrios
Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob.
Variants include Rúben in European Portuguese; Rubens in Brazilian Portugue ...
, singers Danny Rivera
Danny Rivera (born 27 February 1945) is a singer and songwriter born in San Juan whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is well known in Puerto Rico for his political activism. In 2008, Rivera acquired Dominican Republic citizenship.
After 12 y ...
, Robi Draco Rosa
Draco Cornelius Rosa Suárez (; born Robert Edward Rosa Suárez, June 27, 1969), also known as Draco Rosa, Robi Draco Rosa or simply Robi or Draco, is a Puerto Rican singer, musician, songwriter and entrepreneur.
Rosa originally garnered fame ...
and Ricky Martin
Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography spanning ...
, boxer Félix "Tito" Trinidad, writers Ana Lydia Vega and Giannina Braschi
Giannina Braschi (born February 5, 1953) is a Puerto Rican poet, novelist, dramatist, and scholar. Her notable works include ''Empire of Dreams'' (1988), ''Yo-Yo Boing!'' (1998) ''and United States of Banana'' (2011).
Braschi writes cross-genr ...
, American actor Edward James Olmos
Edward James Olmos (born February 24, 1947) is an American actor, director, producer, and activist. He is best known for his roles as Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo in ''Miami Vice'' (1984–1989), ''American Me'' (1992) (which he also dir ...
and Guatemala's Nobel Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú supported the cause, as did Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. (born January 17, 1954) is an American environmental lawyer and author known for promoting anti-vaccine propaganda and conspiracy theories. Kennedy is a son of U.S. senator Robert F. Kennedy and a nephew of President ...
, Al Sharpton
Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, talk show host and politician. Sharpton is the founder of the National Action Network. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democratic ...
, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senator ...
. Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
once said that he wanted peace for Vieques. The Archbishop of San Juan, Roberto González Nieves
Roberto Octavio González Nieves, O.F.M. (born June 2, 1950) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He has been serving as archbishop of the Archdiocese of San Juan in Puerto Rico since 1999.
González previously served as an auxili ...
, was heavily involved in the protests that took place in the municipality. He managed to put together a coalition of different Puerto Rican church leaders that gathered international attention. Olmos, Sharpton and Kennedy also served jail time; while serving his prison term in Puerto Rico, Kennedy's wife Mary gave birth to the couple's sixth child, a son they named Aidan Caohman Vieques Kennedy.
The Movimiento Socialista de Trabajadores
The Workers' Socialist Movement (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Movimiento Socialista de los Trabajadores'', MST) is a Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican democratic socialism, democratic socialist revolutionary organization, formed in 1982 and dedicated to ...
held a series of incursions into the bombing ranges to halt the bombing without being arrested, and a few of them were successful in that second objective.
Massive occupation of practice range
On May 4, 2000, civil disobedience encampments inside the practice grounds were evacuated by U.S. Marshals
The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforce ...
, Marines
Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...
and Navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
.
Five days later, in an internationally covered event, hundreds of protesters and supporters from all over the world and with different ideologies, penetrated the military practice grounds. Natives of Vieques, many Puerto Ricans, Hollywood celebrities, priests, pastors, friars, athletes, and politicians including U.S. Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
Luis Gutiérrez
Luis Vicente Gutiérrez (born December 10, 1953) is an American politician. He served as the U.S. representative for from 1993 to 2019. From 1986 until his election to Congress, he served as a member of the Chicago City Council representing the ...
and Nydia Velázquez
Nydia Margarita Velázquez Serrano (born March 28, 1953) is a politician serving in the United States House of Representatives since 1993. A Democrat from New York, Velázquez chaired the Congressional Hispanic Caucus until January 3, 2011. Her ...
were among them. The incursion had been well publicized and resulted in the arrest of the protesters by Marshals, as both sides of the struggle wanted to avoid brushes with the military.
With non-violence as the main objective of the protests, the protesters behaved in a peaceful manner upon their arrest, shouting ''"Paz para Vieques"'' ("Peace for Vieques"). Others sang themes related to peace or religion. A few had to be removed by force but didn't offer physical resistance or insult the officials. Many protesters were set free a few hours after being jailed, others were released a few days later. Only a few had sentences imposed that lasted between one and six months. The official charge was trespassing
Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels, and trespass to land.
Trespass to the person historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery, wounding, ...
on U.S. military territory.
Incursions continue, protests come to an end
With the continuation of bombing practices by the U.S. Navy, incursions to the practice grounds continued, until the U.S. government announced that the military would be leaving the island in May 2003.
On March 31, 2004, the United States closed its Roosevelt Roads Naval Station
Roosevelt Roads Naval Station is a former United States Navy base in the town of Ceiba, Puerto Rico. The site operates today as José Aponte de la Torre Airport, a public use airport.
History
In 1919, future US President Franklin D. Roosev ...
on mainland Puerto Rico. A skeleton staff of 200, down from approximately 1,200 civilian and 700 military personnel, stayed on at the facility until the transfer of the property was completed. The closure of the base at Roosevelt Roads resulted in a substantial financial loss to the economy of Puerto Rico that the Navy estimates at $250 to $300 million a year. Admiral Robert J. Natter, commander of the Atlantic Fleet, is on record as saying: "Without Vieques there is no way I need the Navy facilities at Roosevelt Roads — none. It's a drain on Defense Department and taxpayer dollars."
Nevertheless, the government of Puerto Rico has announced that the airport at the base will be reopened, and will become a major Caribbean air cargo hub, relieving Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport
Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport ( es, link=no, Aeropuerto Internacional Luis Muñoz Marín) is a joint civil-military international airport located in suburban Carolina, Puerto Rico, southeast of San Juan. It is named for Luis Muño ...
and extending its useful life indefinitely without the need for property expansion. It will also be used to centralize general aviation
General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...
activities now dispersed over several municipal airports, saving the Puerto Rico Ports Authority
The Puerto Rico Ports Authority (PRPA) ( es, Autoridad de los Puertos; AP) is a government-owned corporation of Puerto Rico charged with developing, operating, and overseeing all seaports and airports in Puerto Rico. The Authority is ascribed to ...
significant sums of money on maintenance and other costs. Other plans are in motion to make use of other sections of the former base to benefit the local economy. A large portion of the undeveloped land in the property is being set aside for ecological preservation.
Further protests
On April 30, 2003 many supporters of the Cause of Vieques traveled to the island-municipality to hold a celebration inside the past bombing practice grounds. The event was recorded by national TV news. On May 1, 2003, the crowd entered the former bombing range en masse. Their celebration turned aggressive, in contrast to the peaceful protests held by some of them a few months earlier.
The Police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...
Task force of Puerto Rico was mobilized from the main island, as were the Police of Vieques, and other previously mobilized law enforcement officials, who were unprepared for the now-violent celebration. The president of the Teachers Federation of Puerto Rico
The Teachers' Federation of Puerto Rico ( es, Federación de Maestros de Puerto Rico, FMPR) is a trade union federation of teachers in Puerto Rico. With currently 32,000 members, it is one of the most important non-US-aligned unions in the terri ...
, and a leader of the cause, was recorded by TV cameras engaging in violent and destructive behavior. The crowd destroyed a former Navy guard-house and military trucks with drop hammers. The TV footage was used as evidence to criminally indict the vandal
The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century.
The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...
s, as the property destroyed was now owned by the NRCS.
Those indicted said that their behavior was caused by the resentment and bitterness that had accumulated from the decades of suffering due to the Navy's bombing practices on the island. Norma Burgos
Norma E. Burgos Andújar (born October 30, 1954) is a Puerto Rican politician. She has been a member of the Senate of Puerto Rico since 2000. She also served as Lieutenant Governor and the 16th Secretary of State under Governor Pedro Rosselló ...
, a Senator of Puerto Rico, who had formerly been imprisoned for trespassing on the bombing range several months earlier, justified the behavior by comparing it to the fall of Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...
's statue in the recent invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Ba'athist Iraq, Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one mont ...
— in which U.S. soldiers used an Army tank (a property of the U.S. government) to tear it down. Their defense failed, and more than a dozen of those charged were imprisoned for ''"damages and destruction of public property."''
Military withdrawal 2001-2003
In 2001, the United States Navy left western Vieques, which had been used as an ammunition depot. Now the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...
controls 3,100 acres (13 km²) of this land — about half of the formerly owned military property. Over the course of U.S. Navy occupancy, nearly 22 million pounds (10,000 tonnes) of military and industrial waste, such as oils, solvents, lubricants, lead paint, acid and 55 US gallon (200 L) drums, were deposited on the western portion of the island. As cited by McCaffrey, according to the Universidad Metropolitana, the extent of leaching is unknown. In 2005 the Navy was investigating 17 potentially contaminated sites.
On May 1, 2003 the Navy finished turning over all of its lands to the U.S. Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...
. This included the Navy's entire eastern portion of the island — 14,573 acres (58.97 km2), which had mainly been used as a dumping ground. McCaffrey cites data from the U.S. Navy: "Vieques was bombed an average of 180 days per year. In 1998, the last year before protests interrupted maneuvers, the navy dropped 23,000 bombs on the island, the majority of which contained explosives."
The live impact range, which is the most contaminated zone, was given the highest protected environmental status, that of a "wilderness preserve." The Fish and Wildlife Service states that Vieques Wildlife Refuge is an ecologically diverse Caribbean wildlife refuge
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
. The EPA has declared the refuge a superfund site. Much of the lands are now termed wildlife refuges, meaning that humans are not allowed on the land, therefore allowing the Navy to avoid cleanup. Whether or not the U.S. made the land a wildlife refuge to avoid cleaning up the island is debated.
Contamination and health effects
A survey by the Puerto Rico Health Department revealed that the cancer rate in Vieques is 27% higher than mainland Puerto Rico. In a 2001 federal lawsuit, Vieques' environmental groups and residents accused the Navy of causing "more damage than any other single actor in the history of Puerto Rico".[Herbert, Bob. "In America When the Bombing Ends." New York Times. 2001-06-18: p. 23.] The prosecutors stated that the Navy's activities contaminated much of the eastern portion of the island with a wide range of toxic substances. As cited by Franciscans International, according to the Navy's figures, throughout the course of six decades about 5 million pounds (2,000 t) of ordnance was dropped on Vieques every year. Ordnance included toxic compounds and elements such as arsenic
Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, but ...
, lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
, mercury
Mercury commonly refers to:
* Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun
* Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg
* Mercury (mythology), a Roman god
Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to:
Companies
* Merc ...
, cadmium
Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, silvery-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Like zinc, it demonstrates oxidation state +2 in most of ...
, depleted uranium
Depleted uranium (DU; also referred to in the past as Q-metal, depletalloy or D-38) is uranium with a lower content of the fissile isotope than natural uranium.: "Depleted uranium possesses only 60% of the radioactivity of natural uranium, hav ...
and napalm
Napalm is an incendiary mixture of a gelling agent and a volatile petrochemical (usually gasoline (petrol) or diesel fuel). The name is a portmanteau of two of the constituents of the original thickening and gelling agents: coprecipitated al ...
, and tons of a fiberglass-like substance. Most of these toxins are persistent and may bioaccumulate
Bioaccumulation is the gradual accumulation of substances, such as pesticides or other chemicals, in an organism. Bioaccumulation occurs when an organism absorbs a substance at a rate faster than that at which the substance is lost or eliminated ...
.[Commission on Human Rights. "Question of the Violation of Human Right and Fundamental Freedoms in Any Part of the World: The Human Rights Situation in Vieques, Puerto Rico." United Nations. 2004-03-03. Retrieved on 2007-01-18.]
For decades environmentalists have complained that contaminants from naval exercises have spread to other parts of the island though the air, water, and soil. The people of Vieques live downwind from where the bombing was done; thus toxins that can be airborne — such as depleted uranium — could easily come in contact with civilians. Representative Charles Rangel
Charles Bernard Rangel (, ; born June 11, 1930) is an American politician who was a U.S. representative for districts in New York from 1971 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the second-longest serving incumbent member of the Ho ...
(D-NY) investigated contamination in Vieques and discovered that
A number of studies conducted by well-qualified scientists from universities in the United States and in Puerto Rico reveal that there is a high probability that the compounds released by the Navy exercises and chemical testing created toxic levels in the environment and could be the cause of serious medical conditions affecting the people of Vieques.[Friedman, Robert.(2006). "Rangel seeks GAO study of Vieques health threat." The San Juan Star. 2006-10-31: p. 8.]
The same newspaper article reported that a study by the Puerto Rico Health Department cited high levels of heavy metals
upright=1.2, Crystals of osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">lead.html" ;"title="osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead
Heavy metals are generally defined as ...
in plants, animals and humans and that high levels of heavy metals appear to be causing increased cancer and infant mortality rates, and childhood asthma
Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...
. In the live impact range on the eastern tip of island, studies have shown that the ground water is contaminated by nitrates and explosives.[McCaffrey, Katherine T. (2006). "The Battle for Vieques' Future." ''CENTRO Journal''. Vol 18, no. 1: 125-147.] Furthermore, unexploded weapons, ordnance, and sunken barges litter the floor of the Caribbean Sea. Testing done in the Icacos Lagoon showed concentrations of cadmium in crabs to be 1,000 times higher than the World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
's "tolerable ingestion maximum dosage." Furthermore, toxic levels of heavy metals, including lead, arsenic, selenium, mercury and zinc, have been found in several species of fish. In the lawsuit conducted by environmentalists and the people of Vieques against the Navy, the prosecutors noted that most residents of Vieques use many of these same species of fish as a source of food. Cadmium and arsenic are carcinogenic. One study from 1999 that tested hair samples from various age groups of Vieques residents revealed that 69% were contaminated with cadmium and arsenic, and 34% had toxic levels of mercury.
Biologist Arturo Massol and radiochemist Elba Díaz conducted an unpublished study in 2001 that showed vegetables and plants growing in the civilian area of Vieques were highly contaminated with heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and copper. Furthermore, they discovered that metal concentrations in edible crops were both substantially above the maximum levels set by the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
Council and much higher than plants tested in mainland Puerto Rico. Chilies, pasture grasses, and squashes were affected more than plants with deeper root systems such as trees. This is consistent with the theory that heavy metals travel by air to civilian areas via the steady easterly trade winds that blow directly from the bombing zone.[Lindsay-Poland, John. "Health and the Navy in Vieques." Fellowship of Reconciliation. 2001. Retrieved on 2007-01-19.]
Mercury affects the brain, cardiovascular system, kidneys and the developing fetus. According to a 2006 newspaper article there is a study by the Puerto Rico Health Department which linked abnormally high levels of asthma in children to mercury contamination. In 2004, the infant mortality rate in Vieques was 55% higher than the other 77 municipalities in Puerto Rico—a rate of almost 20 per 1000 live births as opposed to 12.8.
On November 17, 2002, Milivi Adams, Vieques native, died from cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
. Her death became a symbol in the battle against the military presence on the island.
Depleted uranium
In addition to the toxic materials that the Navy had been dropping on Vieques since the 1940s, in 1999 the Navy accidentally fired depleted uranium bullets ("DU"). The Navy admitted to firing just 263 rounds of depleted uranium bullets. Based on a report by RAND
The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is financed ...
, a research corporation, the U.S. Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...
claims DU doesn't compromise human health. However, Dan Fahey, the Director of Research at the Gulf War Resource Center, points out that the RAND report was incomplete: it ignored 68 relevant sources that show clear relationships between DU and harm to human health.[Ruiz-Marrero, Carmelo. (2001).]
"Vieques Residents Alarmed by Depleted Uranium Reports"
. Inter Press Service. 2001-01-30.
Nuclear target ship wreck
In 1958, the veteran World War II Fletcher Class Destroyer USS Killen (DD593) served as a target ship for wreckage during the atom bomb tests in Operation Hardtack I
Operation Hardtack I was a series of 35 nuclear tests conducted by the United States from April 28 to August 18 in 1958 at the Pacific Proving Grounds. At the time of testing, the Operation Hardtack I test series included more nuclear detonation ...
(shots WAHOO and UMBRELLA).[Operation Hardtack I]
Defense Threat Reduction Agency, 2007, Factsheet. 2 pp[ Defense Nuclear Agency renamed to Defense Threat Reduction Agency. 1982. DNA6038F]
Operation Hardtack I 1958
In 1962 it was engaged in highly explosive tests in the Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...
to assess the structural effects of the ship's nuclear exposures. ''Killen'' was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...
and sent to the US Naval Station at Roosevelt Roads
Roosevelt Roads Naval Station is a former United States Navy base in the town of Ceiba, Puerto Rico. The site operates today as José Aponte de la Torre Airport, a public use airport.
History
In 1919, future US President Franklin D. Rooseve ...
in January 1963 to be used as a target ship for missile and gunnery practice, where she was eventually sunk/scuttled in a shallow bay in 1975 and still lies as of 2010.[Addendum to: ex-USS Killen Site Investigation, the Split-up Wreckage of the ex-USS Killen, Vieques Island, Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico. Final Report June 2003. Prepared for Commander Atlantic Division, Naval Facilities Engineering Command. Contract no. N62470-95-D-1160. Task Order no. 0050. Prepared by: Geo-Marine, Inc. Project no. 17600.00.0050]
Until 2002 the US Navy seems to have lost track of the ship's nuclear past and of the wreck site. A sizeable portion of the ship's stern is removed by a distance of across the bay. The wreckage is present on the bay floor and is absent all structures from its main deck including nearly all the main decking itself: essentially a shell of a ship without a lid.[ Thousands of tons of the ship are missing.][Radiological, Chemical, and Environmental Health Assessment of the Marine Resources of the Isla de Vieques Bombing Range, Bahia Salina del Sur, Puerto Rico. J.Barton, J.Porter et al. March 2004. Underwater Ordnance Recovery, Inc.]
Studies and site visits made in 1999 by a Puerto Rican marine archaeologist and the University of Georgia
, mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things."
, establ ...
discovered nearly two hundred steel barrels of unknown origin and contents among the wreckage of the ''Killen''. Based on government descriptions of the nuclear tests in the Pacific, some scientists and Vieques environmental activists have been concerned that nuclear-fallout cleaning materials were stored inside those barrels and improperly disposed, possibly entering the local environment prior to sinking or exposing contaminants to the animals and habitat of Bahia Salina del Sur in Vieques after sinking.[
In 2003, a team from the University of Georgia conducted radiological and toxicological tests of the wreckage using underwater detection equipment. The report discussed testing the interiors of the steel barrels at the wreck site of four intact barrels and five 'open' ones, that were probed with a siphon-extraction tube. They found that the wreck site did not present elevated radiological signatures in the ship's hull or in the interior components of the barrels. The report raised concerns about possible contamination from ordnance at the site.][ the origin and contents of the barrels are still unknown.
]
Sonic booms
It had been asserted that the noise created by the Navy's testing had negatively affected the health of civilians living on Vieques. In a study conducted for Puerto Rican Governor Calderon, 48 of the 50 Vieques residents tested were diagnosed as suffering from vibroacoustic disease
Vibroacoustic disease is a medical condition manifested in those who have had long-term exposure (≥ 10 yr) to large pressure amplitude (≥ 90 dB SPL) and low frequency noise (≤ 500 Hz). The disease is said to lead to heart arrhythmia or eve ...
— a thickening of heart tissue caused by exposure to sonic booms. Simultaneously, the Ponce School of Medicine
The Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU), formerly Ponce School of Medicine & Health Sciences, is a Private university, private, For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit university in Ponce, Puerto Rico and St. Louis, Miss ...
conducted an independent study and found other data to confirm the presence of vibroacoustic disease: 79% of Viequenses fishermen have thickened heart tissue, which is the main symptom of vibroacoustic disease. This disease is said to lead to heart arrhythmia
Arrhythmias, also known as cardiac arrhythmias, heart arrhythmias, or dysrhythmias, are irregularities in the heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. A resting heart rate that is too fast – above 100 beats per minute in adults ...
, or even death.
The Ponce School of Medicine study was reviewed by the United States Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is a federal public health agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The agency focuses on minimizing human health risks associated with exposure to haza ...
(ATSDR). The tapes of echocardiogram
An echocardiography, echocardiogram, cardiac echo or simply an echo, is an ultrasound of the heart.
It is a type of medical imaging of the heart, using standard ultrasound or Doppler ultrasound.
Echocardiography has become routinely used in th ...
s, which measured the pericardial thickness, were blind-coded and sent to the Mayo Clinic to repeat without knowledge of whether study subjects were from Vieques or from the control group. It concluded in 2001 that "there is no evidence from the Vieques Heart Study to indicate clinically significant heart disease".[Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry (ATSDR)]
"Expert Review of the Vieques Heart Study. Summary Report for the Vieques Heart Study Expert Panel Review."
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. 2001. Retrieved on 2010-03-15.
Criticism of health risks
The areas that were used for burning expired ammunition take up a bit less than 300 acres (1.2 km²)[Federal Facilities Assessment Branch. "A Summary of ATSDR's Environmental Health Evaluations for the Isla de Vieques Bombing Range." Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry ("ATSDR"). 2003-11. Retrieved on 2007-01-28.] and the Navy has agreed to clean up the sites according to EPA standards. At a press conference in 2001 Robert B. Pirie
Robert Burns Pirie (18 April 1905 – 9 January 1990) was a vice admiral in the United States Navy. He was Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for air when he retired in 1962.
Biography
A native of Wymore, Nebraska, he was a 1926 graduate of t ...
, Under Secretary of the Navy, said that: "our training poses no danger and little burden to Viequenses and is absolutely vital to our national security".[Pirie, Robert B. "National Image Salute to Hispanic-Americans in the Military Banquet." United States Navy. 2001-05-21. Retrieved on 2007-01-19.]
Pirie claimed that most of the studies linking the Navy's actions to the decline of public health were done by researchers affiliated with the Puerto Rico Independence Party, and that "none of the health-related allegations made have stood-up to credible scientific scrutiny or universally accepted legal standards". Pirie also claimed that the National Cancer Institute
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...
had said that cancer rates in many major U.S. cities are actually higher than the cancer rates in Vieques. In fact, the institute cautioned that the variations in the rates could be attributed to chance, given the small population on Vieques. According to Pirie the figures drawn from the Carmen Feliciano data about an increased infant mortality rate in Vieques are misleading because the studies that used her information omitted a range of data. According to him, when that data was factored in the infant mortality rate was actually lower than that in the rest of Puerto Rico. On behalf of the Navy, Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health conducted a review of the study on vibroacoustic disease done by the Vieques government. The 2001 review found no evidence to conclude that vibroacoustic disease symptoms on Vieques were due to noise from Navy exercises. Furthermore, Pirie claimed that the report suggested that vibroacoustic disease may not actually exist.
ATSDR study
The ATSDR
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is a federal public health agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The agency focuses on minimizing human health risks associated with exposure to haza ...
tested for hazardous materials in the water, air and soil in order to determine whether the health of the Viequenses were at risk. It found that either the Navy had not affected the environment or that the Navy had affected it so minimally that the contamination would pose no threat to human health. However, other scientists contend that ATSDR
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is a federal public health agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The agency focuses on minimizing human health risks associated with exposure to haza ...
's studies were incomplete. The ATSDR
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is a federal public health agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The agency focuses on minimizing human health risks associated with exposure to haza ...
is notorious for denying links between community contamination and health affects. After monitoring the ATSDR
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is a federal public health agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The agency focuses on minimizing human health risks associated with exposure to haza ...
for ten years, Linda King of the Environmental Health Network reported that only one ATSDR study among hundreds has found contaminants in the community to be the cause of health problems.
In 2003 the ATSDR
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is a federal public health agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The agency focuses on minimizing human health risks associated with exposure to haza ...
determined that it is safe to eat seafood from all waters and coastal lands around the island of Vieques. Even though several metals were detected in the local seafood, ATSDR
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is a federal public health agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The agency focuses on minimizing human health risks associated with exposure to haza ...
concluded that the metals would not pose a health risk even if a person ate fish and shellfish every day for 70 years.
It acknowledged that Navy training has elevated the levels of some metals in the soil of the former Live Impact Area, but holds that the levels are too low to harm humans. It concluded that "the public had not been exposed to depleted uranium contamination above normal background (naturally occurring) levels". It found that the air does not contain dangerous levels of chemicals. It claimed that at eight miles, the Live Impact Area is too far from residential areas for airborne dust and contaminants from training activities to be concentrated enough to cause harm when coming in contact with civilians. It determined that Naval training and testing has in no way affected the drinking water on Vieques. Usually most of the island's drinking water comes through an underwater pipeline from mainland Puerto Rico. The ATSDR
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is a federal public health agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The agency focuses on minimizing human health risks associated with exposure to haza ...
report concluded that groundwater from the former Live Impact Area cannot contaminate the wells due to geological barriers, and although there were high levels of nitrates in some wells, this was due to local, most likely agricultural, sources. It cautioned that it is not safe for children and pregnant women to drink water from the contaminated wells.
ATSDR study contested
The ATSDR
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is a federal public health agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The agency focuses on minimizing human health risks associated with exposure to haza ...
avoided drawing links between the navy training and health concerns on Vieques. For example, the agency neglected to test several relevant wells, including the Sun Bay Wells, which serve as the backup water supply for Vieques in case the pipeline from mainland Puerto Rico breaks down. Furthermore, the navy's claim that groundwater from the testing site cannot reach residential groundwater supplies may be false. At a public meeting, when asked why the navy had installed monitoring wells designed to track the spread of explosive contaminants between the impact area and the civilian area, the ATSDR
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is a federal public health agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The agency focuses on minimizing human health risks associated with exposure to haza ...
refused to comment. The ATSDR
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is a federal public health agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The agency focuses on minimizing human health risks associated with exposure to haza ...
also did not adequately emphasize negative findings in their report, such as the high levels of benzene —more than four times the maximum allowed, which were found in a groundwater well on the navy's property. By 2009 the ATSDR
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is a federal public health agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The agency focuses on minimizing human health risks associated with exposure to haza ...
had rescinded many of their early conclusions in the face of mounting criticism.
See also
*Susana Centeno Hospital
Susana Centeno Family Health Center () is the hospital in Vieques, Puerto Rico. It is administered by the Puerto Rico Department of Health. The hospital is currently being rebuilt after closing in 2017 due to damage sustained in Hurricane Mari ...
* Navy-Culebra protests
References
{{coord missing, Puerto Rico
Vieques, Puerto Rico
Vieques (; ), officially Isla de Vieques, is an island and municipality of Puerto Rico, in the northeastern Caribbean, part of an island grouping sometimes known as the Spanish Virgin Islands. Vieques is part of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, ...
Bombing ranges
Political history of Puerto Rico
Vieques, Puerto Rico
Closed military facilities in Puerto Rico