Commissioners asked to condemn American 'military occupation' of Alaskan island By Craig M. Kibler The Layman Online Thursday, May 22, 2003 Commissioners to the 215th General Assembly will be asked to agree that the United States conducted a "military occupation" of an Alaskan island and, in so doing, perpetrated an "economic injustice." The overture (03-28) from the Presbytery of the Yukon goes before the Committee on National Issues when the General Assembly meets May 24-31 in Denver. The overture also asks the General Assembly to agree that the "secretary of defense must formally apologize in writing to the people of Saint Lawrence Island for the damage and suffering caused by the military occupation" and that the military must be made "accountable for the responsible, complete cleanup of the formerly used military sites on Saint Lawrence Island in order to correct the environmental injustice. The lands and waters must be restored in order to protect the health and well being of the environment and health of Saint Lawrence Island Yupik people." Saint Lawrence Island is located in the Bering Sea, approximately 130 miles west of Nome. Northeast Cape, the site of one of the military bases on the island, is about 35 miles from the Russian mainland – which makes it a strategic location for military surveillance operations. The rational for the overture offers a sketchy history of the military presence on the island, saying, "Beginning in the 1950s, the United States military occupied sites at Gambell and Northeast Cape on Saint Lawrence Island," but gives no date as to when the military presence ended – implying that the presence at both bases continued up to the present time. In fact, according to a February 2003 report by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation/Division of Spill Prevention and Response, an Aircraft Control and Warning Station was operated by the U.S. Air Force in Gambell from 1948 to 1956, when it was closed after the construction of a similar facility at Northeast Cape. That base was operated as a surveillance station as part of the Cold War from 1952-1972. Beginning in 1962, the Navy used Northeast Cape as a White Alice communications site, which was a tropospheric communications system used throughout Alaska until 1979. Ultimately, there were 49 such sites. By 1981, all the tropospheric sites had been replaced with satellite terminals. The overture makes no mention of the scores of military facilities that utilized the White Alice communications systems or the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line radar systems; neither does it mention the thousands of military bases that were constructed in communities all over the country beginning during World War II and continuing throughout the Cold War. Instead, it singles out Saint Lawrence Island and charges that the military presence there was an "occupation." The overture, while pointing out that soil and water contamination occurred during the years the military spent on the island – and emphasizing the health risks posed by such contaminants – makes no reference to efforts by the government, through the Army Corps of Engineers, to clean up the former defense sites, nor its role it identifying the contaminants found at the two sites. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation/Division of Spill Prevention and Response, while stating in its February report that it continues to work with the island's community and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, listed the following response actions: Gambell 1996 – A remedial investigation was performed. 1998 – An investigation was performed at the village's water supply area. 1999 – A debris and contaminants removal action was performed. 2001 – A supplemental investigation was performed. Northeast Cape 1991 – A Navy removal action was performed. 1992 – A preliminary assessment was undertaken. 1995 – A Phase I remedial investigation was performed. 1998 – A Phase II remedial investigation was performed. 2001 – A removal action was undertaken. 2002 – A Phase III investigation, was performed. 2003 – A Human Health and Ecological Risk assessment was performed. In the wake of these actions, none of which is mentioned in the overture, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation/Division of Spill Prevention and Response states that the current status of efforts on the island includes: A $10.5-million cleanup (building demolition and debris removal, and contaminants cleanup) will continue this summer at Northeast Cape. The Public Health Service has conducted health consultations for reindeer consumption on the island and fish at Northeast Cape to evaluate the possible impacts to human health from contaminants. A Native American Lands Environmental Mitigation Program-funded debris cleanup will be performed at Gambell this summer. While ignoring clean-up efforts that go back 12 years, the overture nevertheless concludes that, "The United States military has never apologized for their use and damage of the lands, waters, wildlife, and people of Saint Lawrence Island."

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