THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF JOINT MILITARY EXERCISES AND MILITARY PORT VISITS

prepared by the

People's Task Force on Bases Clean-up & Arc Ecology, San Francisco

"I can recall , as commanding officer of an aircraft carrier in 1970, being closely monitored in US ports to insure proper control and disposal of waste material. This increased caution was not evident to me here Subic Bay in 1971 where ships, our aircraft and our industrial facilities were spewing polluted materials into the air, water and soil with no regard for the short-term or long-term effects. I began to see then the double-standard....When one adds the long-term effects of the discharge of untreated sewage, leakage and escape of PCP from electrical generators, it is beyond doubt that Subic Bay is contaminated in many ways which threaten the long-term health and safety of local residents.  The contamination also constitutes a potential barrier to investment and development necessary to convert closed facilities into useful assets for the benefits of the local economy and citizens of the host nations."

- Admiral Eugene Carrol,Jr., Retired,US Navy, former Commander of US Aircraft Carrier Midway in "US Military Bases and the Environment," 1996 International Forum on US Military Toxics and Bases Clean-up, Manila.  Sponsored by People's Task Force on Bases Clean-up & Nuclear-Free Philippines Coalition.

 

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Military port visits and training exercises, ie.,"Balikatan exercises", have important environmental impacts. Some are short term, others can change the ecology.  Joint military exercises include acquainting allied services with weapons handling and full combat simulations with the use of live ordnance which can devastate an environment.  Although commercial shipping shares many of the same environmental impacts, some impacts are specific to the military. 

 

The operations of the US military require the use of hundreds of different kinds of toxic substances which during standard procedures are often dumped into the ground or washed into the nearby rivers or bays.  As a result, the groundwater and land of the nearby communities are contaminated with carcinogenic substances like solvents, unexploded ordnances and heavy metals, like lead or mercury.  Such is the case in areas around the former Clark Air Base in Pampanga, Subic Naval Base in Olongapo, Poro Point in La Union, and Camp John Hay in Baguio City.  Until This day, the US government has demonstrated no willingness to investigate or clean-up any of the more than 30 confirmed contaminated sites in these areas.
 

Under the Philippine Constitution of 1987, the Philippines "adopts and pursues a policy of freedom from nuclear weapons".  The Visiting Forces Agreement or  VFA does not require the US military to declare whether or not nuclear weapons are on board vessels entering Philippine territory.  This would allow the transport of nuclear weapons into the country and the possibility for a nuclear explosion. 

 

We can look at examples in other nations to see the environmental destruction created by the US military's presence.  In Vieques, Puerto Rico, bombings and other military activity have caused mass destruction to the fishing areas and coral reefs.  Several mangrove lagoon areas have been subjected to approximately 30 years of dumping of thousands of cubic yards of a variety of base waste.  Wildlife has also been affected; in one year, fishermen documented at least 15 cases of deaths of large sea turtles, dolphins, and whales. 

 

With 22 commercial ports in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao now being used as regular US military access points, the agreement would open up the whole Philippines to unprecedented US military presence and environmental destruction and poisoning.

 

TRAINING EXERCISES

 

ECOLOGICAL DAMAGE

 

Training harms forests, mountains, beaches and wetlands by subjecting them to bombardment, large all terrain vehicles and foot soldiers.  Noise from fighter jets and helicopters have been a major environmental nuisance, upsetting livestock and people.

 

UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE
 

Not all bombs or shells used in training or combat explode when they land.  But just because a bomb is a dud upon impact doesn't mean it's not dangerous.  Frequently, bombs and shells lodge themselves in the earth waiting for someone to disturbl them and cause them to explode.  This occurs most frequently after training exercises, as what happened to two children who were killed near a beach in Cebu, or when people search the area for metals and other materials to salvage.

 

TOXIC WASTE
 

Large amounts of toxic materials go into the formulas and manufacture of ordnance and other military equipment.  The explosives and many of the components of bombs are toxic in and of themselves.  The fuels, lubricants and solvents used by vehicles are also toxic.  Toxic wastes from weapons, tanks, and jeeps can litter the landscape and pollute the soil. 
 

PORT CALLS
 

TOXIC POLLUTION AND NUKES
 

Pollution associated with American military vessels includes the past use of organo-tin paints which are highly toxic, and current use of solvents, paints mixed with pesticides, fungicides and herbicides to reduce maintenance costs.  Chipping and painting can introduce these toxics into local environments. US Navy documents obtained by FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT indicate that nuclear powered vessels occasionally leak or spill their contaminated coolant water into Bays and coastal areas or when berthed at port.
 

GARBAGE AND SEWAGE
 

U.S. military ships have been observed dumping medical wastes including contagious blood samples, syringes, and household garbage in coastal waters.
 

INVASIVE SPECIES
 

The bilge of all ships take in water.  Frequently animal and plant organisms find their way into bilge, are transported across oceans and introduced into entirely new ecosystems when the ship flushes its bilge water.  For example, in the San Francisco Bay, the Asian Mitten Crab is now competing with native varieties upsetting commercial fisheries.   
 

RADIOACTIVE WASTE A REALITY
 

According to the United States Working Group for Philippine Bases Clean-up,

"Nuclear powered vessels visited Subic since its adoption into service in US Naval combat ships.  In the early days of the program, liquid wastes were occasionally released into US Naval harbors.  Additionally, there is the distinct possibility of accidents during ship repair.  Spills are likely to have occured.  For example, a former US Naval officer interviewed in the documentary film "Toxic Sunset" stated that his nuclear-powered vessel had dumped its low level radioactive waste in a Subic pier as recent as the summer of 1991."
 

With the signing of the Visiting Forces Agreement in 1991, nuclear powered vessels are frequent visitors to the Philippine ports.  Research done by the Greenpeace Institute for Policy Studies revealed similar incidents in which radiation was released to the environment from nuclear-powered US Navy ships in other countries.  These Neptune Papers published in 1989-90 detailed 799 accidents involving naval ships of the US, 13 nuclear aircraft carrier accidnts, and 212 total accidents involving nuclear vessels of all navies.  What follows are other incidents of radioactive spills that have been documented. Are we sure that we should be adding contamination to Subic Bay and the 21 other commercial ports all over the archipelago that are now open to US military access under the VFA?

 

This is our only environment.  Let us protect the sacredness of our resources and the health of our people from undue threats from foreign powers.

SAY NO! TO BALIKATAN MILITARY EXERCISES AND ABROGATE THE VISITING FORCES AGREEMENT .

Sources: A series of Fact Sheets  on Homeporting and Nuclear Expansion on North Island by the San Diego Military Toxics Campaign, Environmental Health Coalition, Peace Resource Center of San Diego, Physicians for Social Responsibility, San Diego Chapter.