HAGÅTÑA — Guam Governor Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero and Lieutenant Governor Joshua F. Tenorio are reaffirming their opposition to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s deep-sea mining proposal after the agency announced it was effectively doubling the potential lease area to include seabed west of the Marianas archipelago — bringing the mining zone as close as 46 miles from Guam’s shores.
“We are disappointed that, in all our attempts to engage with BOEM throughout this process, they have not considered and have ignored the very people who are most affected by their actions,” Governor Leon Guerrero said. “We will show up on every front to make sure that our concerns are heard and that our oceans are protected.”
The administration said the expansion was driven by industry interest, not by the overwhelming public concern about environmental, biodiversity, fisheries, tourism, public health, national security and regional relations impacts raised by local stakeholders and tens of thousands of people worldwide.
Lieutenant Governor Tenorio, who attended a meeting with BOEM officials on Feb. 25, said the bureau was unable to answer many of the concerns Guam officials raised, including questions about a potential expansion of the lease area — the same pattern seen in American Samoa, where a similar proposal nearly doubled during review.
“BOEM’s moving ahead with doubling the lease area despite public objections and concerns only demonstrates how much of a flawed process this is,” Tenorio said. “The total disregard for our traditions, livelihoods, and resources is deeply troubling.”
The administration said it is exploring every avenue to ensure island voices are at the table, including engaging other affected jurisdictions and pushing to establish a Joint State/Federal Task Force. BOEM’s next step is to move the identified area into environmental analysis for potential leasing. Agency officials said during their Guam visit that they plan to return for additional meetings, likely in May.
