OEJP filed Freedom of Information Act Requests with the U.S. Department of Defense
On September 11, 2023, the Okinawa Environmental Justice Project (OEJP) filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to release the DoD's analysis and evaluations of the issues associated with the extremely soft seafloor found at the site of the new U.S. base construction site at Henoko-Oura Bay, Okinawa.
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| Image Source: U.S. Department of Defense |
Consulting with FOIA experts and environment NGOs, we requested the release of information on the following three matters:
1. The feasibility of soft seafloor reinforcement work and base construction itself
2. The environmental impact of seafloor reinforcement work
3. The operability of the base (if ever completed)
2. The environmental impact of seafloor reinforcement work
3. The operability of the base (if ever completed)
See the FOIA requests below.
Considering the organizational structures of the U.S. Department of Defense, we sent our request to 1) the Department of the Navy-including the Marine Corps, 2) the Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps, and 3) the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. (We have already received confirmations from all three entities that they had received our requests).
With the Supreme Court ruling on September 4 that Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki's disapproval of seafloor reinforcement work was illegal [1], the saga of the Henoko base construction project has entered a new phase. Our FIOA requests are a renewed effort of civil society to stop the Henoko base construction project in this new phase.
Why we filed FOIA requests
Only the Japanese government claims seafloor reinforcement work and base construction can be done without causing environmental impacts. Now, the Japanese Supreme Court agrees with this claim. Many experts in Japan have pointed out that the proposed seafloor reinforcement work will face tremendous engineering difficulties and cause environmental destruction. Some U.S. think tanks have argued the feasibility of the base construction project as a whole is under serious question [2]. The U.S. Congressional Research Service and the U.S. General Accounting Office have also pointed out technical and environmental problems with the base construction project [3].
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| Soft seafloor with N values being zero Image Source: Okinawa pre. go. |
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| Two active faults next to the base site Image Source: Okinawa pre. go. |
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Defense, which is in the position to use the base (if ever completed), has not released its scientific analysis and evaluations of the soft seafloor, the feasibility of seafloor reinforcement work, the environmental impact of the reinforcement work, and the operability of the base (if ever completed). Nor is it clear whether the DoD has conducted a scientific analysis and evaluation on these matters. [4]
Since the issues of soft seafloor surfaced, environmental NGOs have been pursuing the Japanese government (Ministry of Defense) to explain whether and how both the Japanese and U.S. governments have discussed and evaluated the issues. The Ministry has never given straight answers. Instead, it has insisted that it has been proceeding with the base construction project "based on the repeated confirmation of the policy that Henoko is the only solution (between the two governments)." When asked whether the U.S. side has accepted the Japanese government's feasibility studies that seafloor reinforcement work and base construction can be done without impacting the environment, the Ministry only replied, "The Japanese government has been explaining its studies to the U.S. side." [5] The Ministry has not answered whether or not the U.S. side has agreed with its feasibility studies.
The political decision or bilateral agreement that "Henoko is the only solution" cannot make what is physically impossible possible. With the hope that the U.S. DoD has a much better understanding of environmental realism than the Japanese government, we filed our FOIA requests with the U.S. DoD. Even though Govoer Tamaki is under tremendous pressure from the Japanese court to approve seafloor reinforcement work, we insist that Governor Tamaki does not decide on the Okinawa Defense Bureau's application without examining the DoD's analysis and evaluations.
Silence of DoD
The silence of the U.S. Department of Defense over the issues of soft seafloor worries us because it reminds us of what we went through in the "dugong lawsuit" in the U.S. federal court (2003-2020).
In 2008, the U.S. Federal District Court in San Francisco ordered the Department of Defense to conduct a study on the impact of the Henoko base construction on dugongs, an endangered marine mammal species and cultural icon for Okinawa. DoD-commissioned experts analyzed and evaluated the Okinawa Defense Bureau's Draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) for base construction and produced a report (Welch et. al. 2010). [6] The report harshly pointed out various deficiencies in the Bureau's Draft EIA. Unfortunately, it was only in 2018, five years after then-Governor Hirokazu Nakaima approved the EIA and land reclamation for base construction under pressure from the Japanese government, that the Department of Defense released the report through the appeal process. If then-Okinawa Governor Nakaima had obtained and understood that report, he would not have been able to approve the EIA and land reclamation.
Then-Governor Nakaima's approval started construction work. It also made it possible for the Japanese and U.S. governments to claim that the Okinawa Governor, democratically elected by the people of Okinawa, accepted the EIA (which the DoD criticized) and approved land reclamation and base construction. Worse, this legal decision and the skewed logic of democracy make it theoretically possible for both governments to shift blame for any problems stemming from construction work to the Okinawa Governor's decision and, ultimately the people of Okinawa.
We don't want that to happen again. That's why we filed the FOIA requests with the hope that the DoD has a much better understanding of environmental realism than the Japanese government. We don't want to face the worst-case scenario: the seafloor cannot be reinforced; the base cannot be completed; environmental destruction continues, and the Futenma Air Station remains in the middle of Ginowan City. And we don't want the people of Okinawa to get blamed for this worst-case scenario.
Moving Forward
Moving forward with our FOIA requests, OEJP will take three actions: 1. We will communicate to other civil society members and relevant government agencies, including the U.S. Government Accountability Office, that the DoD has not released its scientific analysis and assessments of issues of soft seafloor at the Henoko base construction; 2. We will create a public understanding that the Okinawa Governor should resist the Japanese government's pressure to approve the seafloor reinforcement work because he has not examined the DoD analysis and evaluations. 3. Once the DoD's analysis and evaluations are released, OEJP will review them and have experts review them (since the DoD documents will be in English, we could consult international experts).
If the DoD has not conducted analysis and evaluations, we will demand the DoD conduct them. We are confident that as we take these actions, the fallacies of the political decision and bilateral agreement that "Henoko is the only solution" will be revealed, and that will lead to the creation and implementation of a new, feasible, and immediate plan for the closure/relocation of Futenma Air Station.
References:
[1] "Japan Top Court Upholds Ruling against Okinawa over U.S. Base Relocation"
Jiji English News. September 04, 2023.
[2] For example, see Cancian, F. M. (2020). U.S. Military Forces in FY 2021: Marine Corps. Center for Strategic and International Studies.
[3] For example、ses the Congressional Research Service (2019). U.S. Military Presence on Okinawa and Realignment to Guam. https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IF10672.html
See The United States Government Accountability Office (2021). Burden Sharing: Benefits and Costs Associated with the U.S. Military Presence in Japan and South Korea.
[4] In June 2020, the Readiness Sub-Committee" of the House Armed Services Committee submitted a bill that the DoD examine the issues of soft seafloor at the base construction site for inclusion in the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. The bill was withdrawn and never made into the 2021 NDAA.
See「米議会小委「辺野古の軟弱地盤に懸念」 地震可能性も指摘 国防長官に検証報告を指示」琉球新報 2020年6月25日
[5] In the Save the Dugong Campaign Center's (an environmental NGO) meeting with the Ministry of Defense on April 14, 2023, the Ministry of Defense could not answer whether the U.S. DoD had approved the Ministry's feasibility studies of seafloor reinforcement work and the base construction. https://blog.goo.ne.jp/sdcc/e/53290fd46138e725167e689ee826277a
[6] Welch, D. J. et al. (2010). An Anthropological Study of the Significance of the Dugong in Okinawa Culture.
