SUPREME COURT ASKED: CAN THE AIR FORCE KEEP BLOWING UP BOMBS ON A GUAM BEACH? | The Air Force has blasted old munitions on Tarague Beach since 1982, a local group says the range sits above the island’s main aquifer and beside ancient sites — and one justice called the whole fight “odd” as the bench asked if the lawsuit came too soon

Sun, sand, surf — and kaboom. The US Supreme Court on Wednesday heard Department of the Air Force v. Prutehi Guåhan, a case over whether the Air Force can keep using Tarague Beach, next to Andersen Air Force Base in northern Guam, to detonate unexploded ordnance, Al Jazeera reports. The Air Force has used the beach for detonations since 1982.

The stakes are explosive by the pound: the dispute stems from a 2021 permit application seeking to detonate around 30,000 pounds and open-burn 5,000 pounds of waste munitions, including World War II-era weapons, Courthouse News reports. Guam’s EPA issued a preliminary decision that neither denied nor approved that renewal, and the detonations have continued, per SCOTUSblog.

Prutehi Guåhan — “Protect Guam” in Chamorro — says the range sits on ancestral land the military seized after World War II, next to culturally important fishing grounds, and above an aquifer that provides drinking water to over 80% of the island, Al Jazeera reports. The group wants the Air Force to do a full environmental review under NEPA; the government says the hazardous-waste law, RCRA, displaces that requirement and that the suit was filed too early.

The bench was torn. “This is an odd case,” said Justice Clarence Thomas, noting that it involves “a regulated body asking permission to do something.” Justice Sonia Sotomayor observed that Congress “explicitly does away with NEPA in a bunch of different ways … But they haven’t done it in this context.” Justice Elena Kagan warned of “a gigantic contingency” because Guam’s EPA may not issue the permit the Air Force wants. Law.com read the court as leaning toward the Air Force; Courthouse News said the justices seemed to question “when, not if,” review should happen.

Outside, it was about more than sand. “Guam is a colony of the United States,” said Prutehi Guåhan executive director Monaeka Flores. “We do not have voting representation in Congress. We do not vote for the president.” The island, home to about 170,000 people, has been a US territory since 1898.

Until the justices rule, the Air Force keeps operating under its prior permit, as the group told the court (per SCOTUSblog) — which means the beach stays open. For bombs.

Sources: Al Jazeera · Courthouse News Service · SCOTUSblog · Law.com