<home> -- <press releases> -- <March 15, 2007> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—March 15, 2007– Alongside Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo today, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Installations and Environment, the Honorable BJ Penn and Major General David Bice, Executive Director of the Joint Guam Program Office officially announced the Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the relocation of the of Marines to Guam, and the upcoming public scoping meetings scheduled for early April in Guam, Saipan and Tinian. The Notice of Intent for the EIS was published in the Federal Registry on March 7, and calls for the assessment of the environmental impact the relocation of Marines will have on Guam and the Commonwealth of the “This is required; we have to do the environmental analysis before we can even start the process,” said Assistant Secretary Penn. “The environment analysis will basically tell us where we can locate the facilities; it looks at the impact that putting Marines there will have on Guam. It addresses everything you can imagine.” “We invite all of our friends to come out to see what we’re doing, and we invite your comments,” said Major General Bice, adding that comments will be accepted until May 1, 2007. “The Marine relocation will be a tremendous economic boost to our island’s economy, if we do it right. These meetings are essential to ensuring that environmental and social concerns associated with the proposed force realignment are identified in the environmental impact statement,” Congresswoman Bordallo concluded. “I encourage everyone to participate in the meetings next month.” The schedule for the public scoping meetings is as follows: Tuesday, April 3, 2007 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Guam Hilton Hotel, Micronesian Room Wednesday, April 4, 2007 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Thursday, April 5, 2007 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. ### Contact: Joseph E. Duenas in joseph.duenas@mail.house.gov or cathy.gault@mail.house.gov . |
