Guam News - Guam News

Guam - The Inspector General for the Department of Defense has released a report on the infrastructure requirements for the Guam buildup, which is based on what now appear to be outdated information on the size of that buildup.

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The IG's report was released Wednesday, February 8th, the same day that U.S. Navy Under Secretary Robert Work confirmed that it is DoD's intent to reduce the number of Marines to be station on Guam by about half, to 4,700.

READ the DoD's Inspector General report on "Program and Contract Infrastructure Technical Requirements Development for the Guam REalignment Program HERE

The conclusions in the report are based on the original 2005 realignment agreement [see page 7 of report] which projected the movement of over 8,000 Marines and 9,000 dependants.

However Guam Senator Tom Ada said many of the recommendations on improvements to the island's infrastructure detailed in the report,  will still need to be addressed, even if the impact of the buildup is not as great as previously thought.  Senator Ada is Chairman of the Legislature's Utilities, Transportation and Public Works Committee.

Among those conclusions are:

PORT OF GUAM

* The Port of Guam's cargo handling capacity must be upgraded to achieve the required throughput for military realignment.

* The Guam commercial port bulkhead is at significant risk of major structural failure.

* First Priority >>> “Correct the deteriorated structural, utility and infrastructural facility deficiencies and upgrade said facilities to modern safe standard.”

ROADS 

* 49 Guam Road Network projects "deemed significant" to support the military realignment.

POWER GENERATION, TRANSMISSION and DISTRIBUTION

*"The Guam Power Authority's current and future projected power supply after the refurbishment of electrical systems are adequate to support the island-wide power demand now and up to 2019."

DRINKING WATER:

* an additional 11.3 million gallons of water per day are required to meet DoD's demands for the military realignment.

WASTEWATER TREATMENT

* Currently, the Guam wastewater plants do not meet primary treatment standards and lack sufficient capacity due to poor conditions of the existing assets.

* The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has required the Guam Waterworks Authority to install full secondary treatments at both wastewater treatment plants.

*NAVFAC PAC has identified $8 million in funding needed for the interim wastewater capacity upgrade at the Northern District Wastewater Treatment Plant. However, NAVFAC has yet to obtain authority for obligating the identified funds.

* The USEPA will not grant any permits for new connections to the sewer lines unless interim improvements are implemented.

* Consequently, temporary housing for the construction workforce would not be available due to the lack of sewer connections.

SOLID WASTE

* All civilian solid waste operations are under the control of a court appointed receiver.

* A new landfill – Layon Landfill – was constructed.

* The DOD’s plan is to expand its recycling program and send all of its solid waste, with the exception of construction and demolition waste, to Layon Landfill.

COMMUNICATIONS

* The government of Guam and DOD in Guam currently only have the basic 911 services that cannot process a caller’s telephone number and location automatically.

* The telephone number and location information of calls originating from inside DOD installations are not automatically provided to DOD emergency 911 operators by the DOD installations' Public Safety Answering Points.

* We recommend that the Navy’s, Operational Navy (OPNAV) N2/N6 prepare, complete, and coordinate programs to upgrade the basic emergency 911 system to an Enhanced 911 system.

* Additionally, until the Enhanced 911 system is installed and operational, we recommend advising incoming military personnel and their families, during island inprocessing, about the 911 limitations.