Toxic Colonialism in the Territorial Isles: A Geospatial Analysis of Environmental Crime Across U.S. Territorial Islands 2013

Abstract

The following study explores the geographic distribution of EPA environmental violations across the unincorporated territories within a criminological framework. Using data obtained from the EPA ECHO database, we conduct a geospatial legal analysis to identify island areas bearing a disproportionate number of green criminal activity between 2013 and 2017. Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Mariana Islands, and American Samoa reflect a combination of green criminal patterns tied to tourism, commercial production, militarism, and nuclear testing. These remote and relatively biodiverse isles are consistently found to be bearing the burden of toxic waste which originated on the other side of the sea.

Keywords

green crime environmental justice interest-convergence GIS US territories

“The education of the Samoan people at present is sufficient to take care of their own affairs. The Navy rule must cease.” —The Mau Committee, American Samoa 1930

Introduction

The following study explores the geographic distribution of EPA environmental violations across fourteen territorial islands within a criminological framework. The sub-discipline of green criminology has made significant contributions regarding environmental justice issues in Native American and Black communities (Lynch et al., 2018; Samuels-Jones et al., 2020). However, it has failed to expand this research to examine issues affecting peoples in U.S. territories and their history of green victimization. In short, the environmental injustices faced by Natives of these outlying islands have largely been ignored in existing criminological research. This study addresses this research gap and specifically it confronts the historic struggles faced by these residents because of nuclear testing on these islands by the United States military. These insular grey geographies, constituting relatively closed eco-systems, are consistently found to be bearing the burden of waste which originated on the other side of the sea.

Relevance of the Study

The power asymmetry which guides the unequal distribution of environmental harm has been explored in green criminological research from the perspective of the political economy, environmental sociology, and environmental justice (Perz et al., 2018; Thomson et al., 2020). However, absent from the discourse and crucial to the understanding the relationship between history and the environment is the impact of toxic colonialism. Toxic colonialism refers to the exportation of hazardous industries and toxic waste from core countries to periphery countries (Pratt, 2010). The concept emphasizes the way environmental harms are overshadowed by the foreign political and economic interests. The term was coined by Jim Puckett, a Greenpeace activist, to describe the dumping of hazardous waste on communities which lack the resources, political representation, or capital to resist exposure (Reed, 2009). Masco’s (2006) popular work employed the concept to describe the ecological sacrifice and prolonged effects associated with nuclear testing in New Mexico. The concept is a fitting description for green crime in the unincorporated territories given their lack of political autonomy or legal capacity to prevent environmental harms. Where environmental racism and environmental justice research emphasizes the uneven macro-distribution of environmental hazards based on race (United Church of Christ, 1987), toxic colonialism focuses on the explicit targeting of a specific group of people for waste disposal, or experimentation of risky technologies (Cunningham et al., 2001). The toxic colonialism framework also highlights the need for cognitive justice as presented within Southern epistemologies of harm emerging from the work of de Sousa Santos (2014) and more broadly within Southern Green Criminology (Goyes, 2019). This overlap illustrates the need for anti-hegemonic knowledges and ways of being while underscoring the limits of western-centric understandings of domination.

An analysis of the role of colonialism on the distribution of environmental hazards in U.S. territories is particularly important for several reasons. Firstly, it facilitates a more holistic understanding of how the legacies of colonialism have shaped current environmental challenges. It also sheds light on current imperialist policies which adversely impact the environment in the territories today. These policies often facilitate the military use and commercial disposal of toxic chemicals and materials in less powerful and protected U.S. territories, a practice illustrative of toxic colonialism. As expressed by Masco (2006), toxic colonialism results in environments that are defenseless from past and future radiological impacts which reveal themselves only in their effects. As former nuclear bases, the U.S. territories are particularly vulnerable to these toxic effects, and most have neither the legal autonomy or technical capacity to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of these practices. Given some international agreements at the global level (e.g., 1989 Basel Convention), unincorporated territories remain vulnerable grey geography given their quasi-protected status. To fully understand the context within which these events continue to occur, we begin with a brief legal history of the US territories and situate these environmental harms within an interest-convergence explanatory framework.

A Brief History of Toxic Colonialism in the Marshall Islands

In 2019, research from Columbia University (Hughes et al., 2019) revealed that radiation levels across much of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean were higher than areas impacted by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The formerly pristine islands became an unwilling home to 67 US nuclear bomb tests during the Cold War and now, decades later, continues to suffer the radioactive impacts of these tests. Prior to 1856, unincorporated territories were previously called “overseas possessions” and they have historically been treated as such.

The indigenous inhabitants of Bikini Atoll endured decades of occupation from missionaries, Spanish, German, and Japanese Navies; but everything changed when the United States (US) took control following WWII. In 1946, Navy Commodore Ben Wyatt pressured King Juda and the islands 167 inhabitants into temporarily relocating from their ancestral lands to the nearby uninhabited Rongerik Atoll with minimal supplies and the promise they could return (Kiste, 1974). The resettlement failed and the Bikinians starved; they were then relocated to Kili Island (1948), then Kwajalein Atoll (1948), back to Kili (1948), and partially to Jaluit (1949), (Niedenthal, 2001). Weeks after the initial relocation, the US began experimenting with thermonuclear hydrogen bombs and radioactive fallout on Bikini Atoll. A 1945 Naval environmental impact assessment report asserted that “no measurable amount of radioactivity” would be released into the Pacific Ocean (Branch, 1984). However, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) would detonate 23 nuclear bombs for a combined fission yield of over 42.2 megatons: and another 43 tests on nearby Enewetak Atoll for an additional 31.8 megatons. The US’s three largest nuclear detonations took place on Bikini and the fourth in Enewetak (Bauer & O’Reilly, 2016). Each of the 67 tests constituted an ecological disaster.

Castle Bravo was the outlier, the 15 m megaton blast (three times its expected size) was the largest US detonation ever with the worst nuclear fallout in history (Weisgall, 1994). The explosion created a 1.2-mile-wide crater and entirely vaporized Bokonijien, Aerokojlol, and Nam islands (Weisgall, 1994). Fallout quickly spread around the world and was recorded as far away as Europe, India, and the US (DeGroot, 2004). Radioactive powder from Bravo snowed on other Marshall Islands contaminating Rongelap, Alinginea, Utirik, and Rongerik atolls (where the Bikini inhabitants were residing). Rongelap and Rongerik Atolls were evacuated 2 days after the detonation, but the residents of the more distant Utrik Atoll were not evacuated for 3 days (Cronkite et al., 1997). Approximately 90% of Rongelap children that were under 12 years of age at the time of the Bravo detonation developed thyroid tumors and more than 40% of exposed Marshallese developed thyroid problems and other abnormalities (McHale, 1981; Thaman, 1988). These dentonations are still reporting significant lasting genetic abnormalities and cancerous impacts from the fallout over a half-century later (Simon et al., 2010).

When the US ceased testing on the islands in 1958, the radioactive Bikini was used as a graveyard for 95 ships and 150 airplanes (Guyer, 2001). However, the densest concentration of nuclear waste (approximately 85,000 cubic meters) was placed in the 1958 “Cactus” crater on Renuit Enewetak; referred to simply as “the dome” (Wargo, 2009). In 1968 after being told Bikini was safe, a group of elders and their extended families (roughly 100 people) returned to the island. Exposure to radioactive isotopes resulted in miscarriages, still births, genetic abnormalities, and numerous deaths until they were evacuated a second time in 1978 (Niedenthal, 2001). The inhabitants of Bikini have resided on Kili ever since and remain dependent on imports since the island does not provide enough food (Niedenthal, 2001). The relocation of the inhabitants of Bikini exemplify experiences of many environmental refugees and complex links between environmental harms and green victimology (Hall, 2020). When the US decided to use Bikini Atoll as a nuclear testing site, the military governor of the Marshall Islands persuaded islanders to leave “for the good of all mankind.” as it seemed unlikely that the residents of Bikini would ever be able to return, given the high radiation levels. (Niedenthal, 2001; Sumner, 2016). In true colonial fashion, the narrative advanced by US representatives at the time was that the Marshallese left their homes voluntarily (Robison et al., 1997). When the inhabitants of Enewetak returned in 1980, they shared the island with the leaking contents of the dome which is increasingly exacerbated by intense storms and rising sea levels (Willacy, 2017).

Critical Race Theory, Interest-Convergence, and Green Crime

Despite the disastrous risk posed to community and environmental health, the geographic distribution of green criminal violations is still in the emergent stages of research. Green criminology has primarily relied on descriptive case studies while under-utilizing quantitative techniques traditionally associated with orthodox criminology (Lynch et al., 2017). Our mixed methods approach couples legal case studies with geo-spatial analysis of territorial islands to address the need for more quantitative research from a green criminology perspective (Stretesky et al., 2013). The link between physical well-being and proximity-based exposure has become relatively well established within environmental justice research (Bevc et al., 2007). A key contribution of spatial methods for the analysis of green crimes on colonial territories is its ability to provide a relational summary of the existing relationship between green crime, land use, and geographic relations with first nations villages. Geographic Information System Mapping (GIS) enables examinations of hazardous sites, which are connected or drive the exploitation of natural resources in such areas (Samuels-Jones et al., 2020; Zhu, 2016). Our geospatial analysis thus draws green criminologists’ attention to the vulnerable remote areas, specifically the occupied territorial isles.

Mapping green crime data throughout the islands provides a significant opportunity to include a contextually sensitive understanding of green crime as a socio-spatial process within these insular spaces. Accordingly, we center our comparative case-study around a series of research questions. Foremost, are there clusters of green criminal activity throughout the U.S. territorial isles? If so, what is the geographic distribution of these illegal pollution sites? How do these territories compare in their respective pollution profiles? And lastly, what legal justifications are employed that enable continued risk exposure on local island communities?

Within the broader social science discourse, scholars have explored some dimensions of toxic colonialism, particularly in disciplines like environmental history and postcolonial studies (Crosby, 1986; Huggan & Tiffin, 2007). Nevertheless, there has been a dearth of research within criminology which incorporates the concept. We contend that green criminology is particularly well-positioned to explore the linkages between the environment and colonialism. Accordingly, we draw from Critical Race Theory’s interest-convergence thesis to explain and make sense of these environmental phenomenon throughout the territorial islands.

Critical Race Theory in Green Legal Precedents

Critical Race Theory (CRT) emerged as a theoretical framework designed to challenge the colorblind notion of law, examine racism in law, and explore the ways in which law may be used to challenge racism (Bell, 1991). CRT originated in the US in the 1970’s through the work of legal scholars who sought to contest the absence of attention to race in the law. CRT’s core tenets call for an exploration of history and context in any attempt to theorize the relationship between race and legal discourse, a perspective which is directly applicable to studies of the variations in the distribution of environmental offences in the US and its territories. Further, CRT’s propositions of differential racialization provide a basis for understanding the nuanced ways in which race has impacted the distribution of toxic wastes in the US territories (Crenshaw et al., 1995; Delgado & Stefancic, 2000). A core tenet of CRT, interest-convergence, posits that white power structures will only develop laws which benefit minorities when it serves their own interests (Thompson, 2010). The interest-convergence hypothesis has been used to explore Black-White race relations, particularly within the Civil Rights Movement (Saada, 2011) and is particularly appropriate for examining the distribution of environmental harm given the prioritization of military interests that have historically operated beyond the confines of federal law.

In the aftermath of the Spanish-American War, the Supreme Court constitutionally legitimized US colonialism in a series of rulings beginning in 1901, collectively known as the “Insular Cases.” These rulings affirmed the policies of US imperialism and justified the indefinite occupation of a territory as constitutional, thereby permitting the United States to maintain authority over newly acquired territory while not fully incorporating these places fully into the nation. The Insular Cases remain the seminal decisions guiding US governance in its territories, which include Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands and the US Virgin Islands. These cases continue to serve as precedent, preserving Congress’ authority over the insular territories, which are still treated differently than a state.

These rulings meant that the territories were neither foreign to the US, nor included within it. This enabled the US to utilize the islands freely for its benefit, without affording these territories the environmental protection. Naturally, this arms-length approach created an imperialistic relationship which hampered each territory’s ability to effectively implement sound environmental policy. Since Congress did not have to abide by an overarching environmental framework, it was only constrained by rights broadly determined to be fundamental. Colonial seizure of territorial islands was first driven by discovery and trade, then by the desire to assert geopolitical hegemony. The US global expansionist tradition exhibits CRT’s interest-convergence perspectives since the annexation of strategically situated territories enabled the US military to build coaling stations and bases. As articulated by Torruella (2007), the rise of US global expansion at the end of the 19th Century was twofold. “Two significant but unannounced reasons for the carrying out of these territorial expansions: the contemplated economic exploitation of these new territories by the ruling metropolises, and the establishment of strategic coaling and naval bases therein” (Torruella, 2007, p. 290). Unlike traditional U.S. white-settler colonial territorial policy with the eventual goal of statehood, the aim of expansionism was instead to maintain indefinite control over areas considered beneficial to military interests without being constrained by constitutional protections or provisions. Further, based on the adverse environmental impacts created by the military operations, such environmental prohibitions would have hampered the use of these territories for the very purpose for which the islands were seized. The invisibility of toxicity coupled with the territories’ lack of sovereignty facilitated toxic colonialism since they could not be held accountable for their role in the ensuing environmental crises.

The US expansionism pursued at the turn of the 20th Century, sought permanent colonies that could be exploited economically. Perhaps the best example of this is the Guano Island Act of 1859 which encouraged citizens to take possession of unclaimed islands containing guano deposits and led to the seizure of many minor islands. While these islands were internationally claimed by the US as territories, the inhabitants were not considered protected citizens in a constitutional sense. US territories, particularly those in the Pacific, have been adversely impacted by the effects of toxic colonialism for decades; they are also one of the most highly militarized regions on earth (Thaman, 1988). The geographic and racial segregation from the US polity meant exclusion from many environmental protections. Some of the occupied lands managed to achieve independence such as the Philippines (1946).

In all cases, the inhabitants of conquered lands had employed traditional techniques for managing their natural resources prior to being occupied by the US military. Much like Native Americans, these traditional practices were developed to address seasonal and predictable shortages and gluts. As noted by Osmundsen (1992) almost every basic fisheries conservation measure devised in the West was in use in the tropical Pacific for centuries. These conservation practices included “land and reef tenure systems; local ‘taboos’ on certain species or habitats, closed fishing areas, and closed seasons; quotas on catches of certain species; prohibitions on taking juvenile animals; agroforestry, fallowing, and other soil replenishment techniques; and protection of natural windbreaks such as mangroves” (Osmundsen, 1992, p. 730). Environmental conservation measures were developed in direct response to material challenges affecting life on a relatively small and remote island, some of which are supported by incredibly biodiverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The territorial isles continue to have complicated political statuses with the United States with considerable military and financial strings attached. Partial independence and lack of sovereignty which characterize the US territories today render the ability of island states to assert control over the protection of their environment incredibly difficult.

Unfortunately, dramatic changes to the ecosystem and landscape following the use of these islands as military bases resulted in significant degradation. World War II in particular, was devastating to the environment of U.S. territories in the South Pacific and continues to be toxic today. In many instances, stored or dumped ammunitions were simply left behind. The territories in the Pacific also became the testing ground for nuclear missiles. The United States conducted nuclear tests on the Bikini and Eniwetak atolls in the Marshall Islands from 1946 to 1958. The U.S. territories continue to have complicated political statuses with the United States with considerable military and financial strings attached. The incomplete decolonization and lack of sovereignty which characterize the U.S territories today render the ability of island states’ to assert control over the protection of their environment difficult. This lack of regulation promotes a series of deviant and criminal human rights violations along asymmetrical lines displacing entire populations (Böhm, 2020). Palau, in particular, has vigorously attempted to prevent vessels with nuclear arms to enter its port. However, this has done little but incite the United States Government. In keeping with interest convergence theory, less powerful island states have little success in escaping foreign powers with diverging interests.

Data and Methods

For examining the details of green criminal violations across territorial islands, we rely on data from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) database. The dataset compiles violations in all 50 states, Native American reservations, and colonial territories. We identify spatial hot-spots of green crime across three different types of violations: air, water, and solid waste pollution. We then coupled the case numbers within the data with the EPA’s “Criminal Case” summary of prosecutions and enforcement proceedings for additional descriptive details. The data provides information on the perpetrator, address, statute violation, case number, outcome (both formal and informal), present status, type and amount of hazard, number of inspections, number of repeated offenses, latitude and longitude coordinates, last inspection date, and description of the violation. Our sample is comprised entirely of islands containing just over 14,000 regulated facilities active over the 5-year period. It is unclear why the EPA limits access to the data beyond this 5 year window which greatly limits longitudinal studies and analysis of recidivism. Rather than expanding beyond this window, we elected to explore the data and legal rulings qualitatively. The dataset was divided into sub-samples for each island and qualitatively coded for different green criminological themes. Once a trend was identified, we prioritized significant violations, consistent non-compliance, and legal enforcement actions as selection criteria for emphasis within the analysis.

Limitations

The primary technical limitation is the EPA ECHO database fails to specify location data for the bulk of Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) violations and thus have been excluded from our maps. We have included summaries of these violations and description for significant offenses. An additional 623 cases were removed due to missing or incomplete data. Additionally, many compliant facilities did not have coordinate or information able to be geo-coded and thus excluded from mapping. Second, the ECHO portal only reports a 5-year window for data. This limited window minimizes the possibility of longitudinal analysis of green crime recidivism at the facility level over longer periods of time. Given the thousands of violations throughout the territorial isles between 2013 and 2017, we chose to focus exclusively on this time-period.

The third limitation is conceptual, pertaining to the limited definition of environmental or green crime as being limited to acts proscribed by law, which excludes numerous forms of environmental harm. Furthermore, using the EPA’s definition, an environmental harm that is not designated, reported, and registered as an environmental crime, cannot be mapped. The lack of registration and regulation of such environmentally harmful but legal incidents represents a blind spot in environmental protection. This limited scope speaks to Goyes’s (2019) point regarding the perils of epistemological colonialism, reliance on colonial reporting, and need to prioritize subaltern understandings of glocal ecocide (p. 56). Recognizing this limitation, we have expanded our inclusion criteria to include descriptions by including United Nations (UN) proceedings as well as active superfund sites and brown sites.

Findings and Results

There were 14,958 permitted facilities in the territorial isles which committed a total 10,406 green offense during the 5-year period; many facilities report numerous violations across multiple pieces of US legislation (Table 1). There were a total 2,007 enforcement actions with 54% resulting in formal lawsuits. Multiple offense counts added an additional 1,389 enforcement actions in response to non-compliance. Virtually all of the legal cases mentioned here are, either directly or indirectly, tied to US based corporations, institutions, or citizens with a mainland address. Water related offenses comprise the bulk of green criminal activity and enforcement actions (roughly 92%), many of which have remained in non-compliance for over a year. Nearly all the 224 air and solid waste enforcements occurred either on a military base or in Puerto Rico.

Table 1.

Description of US Territorial Islands 2012–2017.

Territory	Seized	Number of islands	Size (sq. miles)	2017 Population estimate
Puerto Rico	1899	6	3,515	3,337,177
Virgin Islands	1917	3	134	104,901
Guam	1899	1	212	162,742
Mariana Islands	1944	14	179	53,883
American Samoa	1900	7	77	55,689

Puerto Rico

The island of Puerto Rico (PR) exhibits a total 12,112 permits spread over island, 3,515 miles (9,104 km), or 3.42 permits per square mile. Greater San Juan is an incredibly dense concentration of green crime and even rivals the notorious mainland urban areas such as Los Angeles and New Jersey Turnpike. The bulk of the 813 current, 257 significant violations, and 1,478 enforcement actions since 2012 have been in non-compliance for at least 3 years suggesting green crime has become normalized. The territorial status of the islands means it receives fewer federal resources which compounds a strong tendency to attract industries associated with high rates of pollution production and apparent disregard for law. Minimal sanctions for serious green crimes illustrate CRT’s racialized application of environmental laws. Numerous coal ash dumps, asphalt companies, cruise ship waste discharges, and Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP) top the list of multiple offenders.

Notable companies with significant violations include Bacardi’s multiple facilities in Catano and San Juan, CVS has significant violations in 14 different cities, and BetteRecycling alone has nine significant offenses each in different cities. Dupont Agriculture Carbide Industries has one of the higher sanctions amounts for failure comply with minimum chemical assessment and reporting resulted in $27,500 in 2002; $34,071 in 2004; and $20,000 fines in 2008. Culebra, with 42 facilities, also reports two current offenses at the Culebra Landfill and Prasa Culebra WWTP. The tiny uninhabited island of Mona 40 miles off Puerto Rico’s western coast (not displayed in Figure 1) also had a series of functioning permits which no longer appear active post-Maria. The 134.42 sq mile island of Vieques to the southeast was used as a bombing range by the US Navy from 1942 until being decommissioned in 2003 and immediately added to the Superfund list. Vieques has an additional 47 facilities; notable offenses include Esso Standard Oil, Martineau Bay Resort, Vieques Landfill, and Prasa Vieques WWTP. Water issues found on PR continue eastward along the Antilles into the Virgin Islands.

Figure 1.

Permitted facilities and green crime violations throughout Puerto Rico, Vieques, and Flamenco 2012–2017.

Virgin Islands

Toxic colonialist exposure is immediately apparent in the water related exposure throughout PR, the effects differ significantly on the nearby US Virgin Islands (VI). The 1,760 EPA listed facilities in the VI are scattered over three islands (St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix) with a total of 133.73 square miles. While the islands share in some of the commercial related green violations found on PR, tourist resorts and private estates play the central role in local industry.

St. Thomas and St. John

Like many other islands, green offenses tend to be concentrated in larger urban areas, in this case a stretch from Charlotte Amalie West through Greater St. Thomas and the East End Reserve. St. Thomas and St. John (displayed in Figure 2) report 1,133 facilities, 119 current violations, 143 formal and 130 informal court actions. There are five significant violations, all concentrated along the southern shore St. Thomas and exhibit years of non-compliance. Other notable violations include the Red Point WWTP near Amalie Charlotte, St. Thomas Airport, Marriot Frenchmans Beach Resort, and VI Water and Power Authority located in Krum Bay. Cowpet Baoy East Association was found in violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA) for a year and was fined $8,400 due to water discharge issues. Other notable violations include 21 informal CWA actions for Mangrove Lagoon, 19 informal actions against the King Christian Hotel, and 3 years of non-compliance from the Gentle Winds Resort. Several private estates and Emerald Beach Resorts on Lindbergh Bay have 2 years of non-compliance. Reoccurring formal actions pertaining to the CDWA were found in small (McDonalds, Golden Rock) and large (Ville La Reine) commercial facilities alike (which reports eight formal actions). St. John Island to the east is largely comprised of Virgin Islands National Park which reports three minor violations within its boundaries in addition to a small pocket along the western coast in Cruz Bay.

Figure 2.

Permitted facilities and green criminal violations throughout St. Thomas and St. John 2012–2017.

St. Croix

St. Croix is located 63 miles to the southeast of Puerto Rico also has a stretch of facilities from to the east end. The island reports 627 facilities, 34 significant violations, 103 formal actions, and 100 informal actions (Figure 3). The bulk of the violations pertain to a variety of water issues. Starting at the west side of the island, Frederiksted has a cluster of five offenses. Similar water offenses extend eastward across St. Croix and Kingshill. Mutual Homes, The Waves Resort, and Markoe Elementary school each have 3 years of SDWA non-compliance violations. Larger penalties in the area include Anguilla WWTP ($1,878,500) and Virgin Rum Distilleries ($11,250). The densest concentration on the island is the bay along Christansted including a dozen private resorts and hotels. Similar water issues continue throughout the Pacific territories, although with distinct green criminal character.

Figure 3.

Permitted facilities and green criminal violations throughout St. Croix 2012–2017.

Guam

Beginning with Guam, the southernmost island in the Mariana chain and largest island in Micronesia; the 212 square mile island reports 609 facilities, 10 significant violations, and 23 enforcement actions. Like PR, run-off issues have persisted for decades. Guam established an Environmental Protection Agency in 1973 (epa.guam.gov) and has sought to assert control over their natural-resources with mixed results. The distribution of permits and green criminal violations emanate outward from Tamuning located on the Western coast along Tumon Bay. The violations extend north through Dededo, eastward to Barrigada, and South to Hagåtña continuing inland along Highway 17 to Santa Rita (Figure 4).

Figure 4.

Permitted facilities and green criminal violations throughout Guam 2012–2017.

The island exhibits two primary green criminological forces. It partially shares in the tourist-oriented development found throughout Caribbean and parts of Hawaii (although most visitors are from China). Guam is distinct given the four Naval, with Air Force, Coast Guard, and National Guard installations each reporting multiple large-scale discharge permits. The seven bases cover over 16,000 acres, or approximately 29%, of the island. In order of green violations; Andersen Air Force Base, Apra Harbor, and Sumay Naval Base. Guam played a central role in the Vietnam War and while the DOD maintains Agent Orange was never used on Guam, a 1994 Land Use Plan suggests that 2,4,5-T—an herbicide component of Agent Orange was used the island until 1980 (Territorial Planning Council, 1994). The lasting impact of agent orange exposure on Guam can not be understated (Young & Young, 2017) and is suspected to be a likely source of the islands disproportionately high infant mortality rates (Voss et al., 2016). Other immediate threats include sewage run-off (Redding et al., 2013) and arsenic groundwater contamination (Vuki et al., 2007) as potential sources of continued illness.

Andersen Air Force Base, located outside Yigo on the northern most area of the island, has established a poisonous reputation. Andersen has been in operation since 1940’s and has a running tab of ground water contamination. On base hazards include “chemical weapons storage areas, landfills firefighting training areas and other items that can affect the environment through releases or mishaps” (Hicks, 2013). In October 1992, the EPA placed the base on the National Priorities List (NPL) mandating 80 different recovery sites; many of which have simply being declared off-limits. Soil contaminated with lead (approximately 1,460 yds3) was migrated to as “site 66” CERCLA 120E Federal Facility in 1993 and cost approximately $9,254,300. Again in 2014, Anderson failed to provide the minimum oil spill prevention plan and address a fuel oil #2 issue which took seven informal and two formal enforcement actions costing $111,111,500, 10 times the previous amount.

A second grand DOD violation is the Apra Harbor Naval Complex (a listed superfund site), in addition to be a major CAA violator known for its sulfur dioxide emissions, the facility consistently produces an estimated 220,000 lbs of nitrate compounds annually. The Complex have been in CWA non-compliance for nearly a year posing a serious impact on the surrounding 71 acres of high-quality coral reef and larger Apra watershed. Guam Industrial Services has also been fined $44,893 for RCRA non-compliance in the Apra Harbor shipyard. The Navy has expanded the Naval Complex under a “Pacific Realignment” effort investing $8.7 billion in the port and dredging along the coral reef to accommodate a troop drawdown from Okinawa, Japan. The EPA temporarily blocked the measure, but eventually went forth never-the-less.

Among the eight other EPA classified significant violations, five locations have been non-compliant for at upwards of 3 years. These include formal actions at Ordot landfill (CAA) located along the Pago River. The Guam Waterworks WWTP’s at Agana and Dededo have run into serious water quality issues for upwards of 10 years. In 2016, high levels of chemical perfluorooctanoic sulfonate were found in some of Guam Waterworks Authority’s water wells. The chemical is known to be used for making carpets and fighting fires, but the source remains unknown. The US Naval Hospital in Agana Heights also reports a series of informal RCRA enforcement actions.

Northern Mariana Islands

The Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (NMI), 14 islands north of Guam, is mostly comprised of relatively small islands with active volcanos (technically Maug is three islands part of a single volcanic massif). Roughly 90% of the 53,883 population resides on Saipan with smaller communities on Tinian just to the south and northern Rota. These green crime patterns are consistent with decades long struggle against heavy metal run-off, PCB’s, and ground water contamination (Detay et al., 1989; Denton et al., 2010). In total, the three islands report 455 facilities, two significant violations, 30 current violations, and 28 recent enforcement actions. In 2009, Commonwealth Utilities in Saipan as ordered to pay $342.8 m to clean up oil and hazardous discharge (violating both CWA and SDWA) at two locations on Saipan. Micronesia Resort Inc, the owners of Kensington Hotel in Saipan agreed upon an expedited settlement agreement ($5,325 total) for an “alleged violation of Oil Production and CWA” penalty in 2017.

Sablan Ice and Water in Saipan also report 3 years of non-compliance with no enforcement actions. The legal report lists discharge violations of Coliform (TCR), Nitrate/Nitrite, Lead and Copper into the local groundwater system actively serving 173 people. The other significant violator the Dynasty Hotel and Casino in Tinian has been committed several water related offenses. The Hotel has discharged coliform, arsenic, mercury, lead, copper, nitrates, and a variety of other volatile chemicals into the island’s groundwater serving 100 people. While there have been two informal enforcement actions, no fines or formal actions. The one formal legal action related to the Rota Power Plant in Nieves Village. A 2011 report also found that improper storage had created a subsurface oil plume extending 50 off the shoreline and sheen throughout the Pong Pong Harbor.

American Samoa

The islands of the Samoa archipelago in the South-Central Pacific Ocean were visited by nearly all the imperial naval powers during the 19th century; indigenous tribes across the islands fought to retain their sovereignty through two civil wars and a prolonged siege. German, British, and US Navy’s agreed to split the chain via the Tripartite Convention in Washington after the Apia cyclone sank all imperial ships in the region. Via the armistice, the US took Tutulia, Aunu’u, Ta’ū, Ofu-Olosega, Rose Atoll, and Swains Islands (an atoll of five islands currently disputed by the nearby Tokelau who are seeking self-determination from both the US and New Zealand).

American Samoa (AS) as it has become known (to differentiate from the larger nearby sovereign country), has a combined population of 55,689 and report 50 facilities with 26 significant violations over the 5-year time-period. The largest island of Tutulia (54.9 sq miles) has been occupied by the US Navy since seizing the coaling station at the Pago Pago Bay in 1899. The Navy acted quickly in forcing the Deed of Cession on Tutuila and Manu’a on several tribal Chiefs and it has remained in US control ever since (Chappell, 2000). AS also have their own EPA (epa.as.gov). The organization has effectively dealt with the primary superfund site at Taputimu Farm where in 1983, 10 drums of pesticides containing base neutral acids, polychlorinated biphenyls, and other organic pollutants seeped into the groundwater.

The green criminological pattern across AS are like other territories with densest concentrations are near larger urban ports, in this case the capital city of Pago Pago, located on Tutuia. Tourism is not a significant industry on the relatively insular and remote islands. Like other occupied Pacific territories, military complexes are responsible for numerous serious green crimes. Sites such as the USS Chehalis shipwreck in Pago Pago Harbor which sank containing thousands of pounds of ammunition and 400k gallons of petroleum. Pago Pago’s airport burn pit, lead contaminated soil at the former Malaeloa Training Area, and Pago Pago Elementary School reports (petroleum hydrocarbons, lead, barium, and mercury) contaminated soil as a result of being a former military installation. Matafao Elementary in village of Faga’alu along the southwest side of the harbor is also constructed on a Naval disposal site; a corroded Mk23 practice bomb was discovered along the school’s shoreline near the old barrels and truck-bodies dumped in the harbor decades earlier. Given the minimal urbanization on the island, many of the active permits on the island either report no location or Pago Pago despite being across the island. Serious violators include Afono Village, Alao Village, and Aunu’u water system. Water related non-compliance is rampant with violations; 10 Village Water Systems are all below EPA minimum quality standards, but no enforcement actions have taken place. Tafuna WWTP had been in significant CWA violation but is no longer offending.

Most recent green offenses are all linked to water issues, the bulk of which are comprised of different villages with deteriorating water infrastructure and prior contamination thus receive no enforcement actions. Star-Kist Tuna Co. Cannery in Pago Pago recently settled numerous violations for $6.5 m relating to fish byproducts, phosphorus, oil/grease, ammonia, and various other pollutants. The nearby AS Shipyard and Marine Railway facility have been in non-compliance with the CWA for over a year. Pacific Energy South faced serious penalties for oil releases at their petroleum refining station at the Satala Power Plant. The LBJ Hospital PBC Site in Village of Fagaalu looks to be remediated following multiple serious violations of the CWA.

The three nearby Manu’a Islands, approximately 52 miles from Tutulia, share in many of these water problems. The OFU Manu’a, Aunu’u and Ta’u-Faleasao Village Water Systems have both been in SDWA noncompliance for 5 years for dozens of chemicals and in some instances radionuclides. Water issues on AS are largely the response of human activity (improper disposal of waste at tourist resorts) but also include natural challenges (in this case sediment erosion near tourist developments). The nearby Rose Atoll often included within the AS administration is a 53-acre uninhabited wildlife refuge home to numerous protected species. AS is presently undergoing a rapid population growth suggesting that the tourist style development might be spreading to Polynesia. As these developmental interests continue to converge over the coming decades, it seems unlikely AS will be able to enforce minimal water quality standards.

The Minor Outlying Islands

The US presently controls an additional 19 minor outlying islands, a statistical designation (code ISO 3166-1) for small islands. This includes Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, Palmyra Atoll, and Wake Island in the Pacific as well three small contested islands in the Caribbean. Collectively they report 24 green offenses. Johnston Atoll reporting nine and the Midway Islands eight offenses (all minor). Most of the islands were initially uninhabited, although the US colonization efforts on Baker, Howland, and Jarvis were abandoned in wake of World War II. Some islands are “administered” by other countries that dispute US claim over them given proximity such as Bajo Nuevo Bank (Columbia), Serranilla Bank (Columbia), and Navassa Island (Haiti) are not included in ECHO. Many of these smaller coral atolls have been turned into National Wildlife Refuges but some have disturbing pasts. Johnson Atoll has been used by the military for successful and unsuccessful nuclear tests, biological warfare testing, PCB spill in the lagoon, chemical weapon storage, and Agent Orange disposal site before a brief decontamination effort proceeded the closing of the complex in 2007 (Niedenthal, 2001).

In response to the numerous break away and post-war independence movements, a new third category between colonial territory and independent republic was introduced, referred to as Independent Associate Republics. The resulting Compact of Free Association (COFA) beginning in 1980 included three primary signatories each with a few minor violations; the Federation of Micronesia (3), Palau (3), and the Marshall Islands (1) (Johannes, 1981). These associated republics (or former trust territories) contain numerous islands with substantial populations but do not have substantial facility profiles within ECHO and only report partial data. None of the violations received enforcement actions or fiscal penalties (including the PCB facility in Palau). It remains unclear to what degree the EPA is active in these areas. Palau has vigorously sought to prevent vessels carrying nuclear arms to enter its port. In keeping with interest convergence theory, less powerful island states have little success in escaping foreign powers with diverging interests.

Discussion

The long-term legacies of colonialism and cold war experimentation persist to this day as are evident in the intergenerational health problems and drastic changes to the local ecosystems (Table 2). Hazard exposure has decreased the productivity of their fisheries, resulted in a rapid loss of land into the ocean, and reduced the likelihood that future communities can subsist off the land or water (Allen et al., 2014). Further, their history of colonial control has resulted in a lack of environmental regulatory capacity (Wesley-Smith, 2007). The lack of power and sovereignty has politically limited the decision-making ability of US territories to develop solutions to the environmental problems that impact them most. This denies the agency of islanders at risk, denies their ability to define environmental problems on their own terms, and implement solutions that are suitable for their own needs (Barnett and Campbell, 2010). To further complicate matters, much of the funds for environmental governance in US territories, is of course, obtained from the US.

Table 2.

Permitted Facilities, Green Offenses, and Enforcement Actions Across US Territorial Islands 2012–2017.

Territory	Permitted facilities	Current violations	Significant offenses	Formal enforcement	Informal enforcement	Densest hot-spot	Total Penalties
Puerto Rico	12,112	813	257	825	653	San Juan	$199,708,269
Virgin Islands	1,760	114	213	246	230	St. Thomas	$8,344,741
Guam	609	24	10	10	13	Tamuning	$813,341
Mariana Islands	455	30	2	7	21	Saipan	$1,325
American Samoa	22	22	22	1	1	Pago Pago	$6,504,475
Total	14,958	1,003	504	1,089	918		$215,372,151

Indigenous rights and political autonomy are not extended to most residents of territorial islands. In the case of US unincorporated territories, the islands have some degree of self-governance, but its indigenous peoples are largely denied rights extended to American citizens on the mainland. As posited by CRT’s interest convergence thesis, full independence which would provide the islanders with full governance over their environment, has been forestalled by a combination of strategic legislation. To add further injury, the colonization of these territories has often perpetuated a state of economic dependency in which islanders rely on the jobs provided by the military bases, despite the environmental harm caused by these very bases.

The partial legal status of “non-citizen nationality” is illustrated by quasi-protection and weak enforcement for inhabitants who’s interests diverge from colonial developmental patterns. Some substantial victories have been made in international and local rulings, in addition to lengthy federal EPA proceedings. CRT scholars argue that colonized peoples have a unique historical and political relationship with their colonizers, which challenges us to reflect on how systems of oppression influence who has access to privilege (Cannon & Sunseri, 2017). In this case, the “privilege” being denied to islanders of US territories is the ability to either obtain full independence or be accorded the same rights as other US citizens. While the US has socially constructed islanders in its territories as “the Others” it has simultaneously imposed the burdens borne by “fully” American citizens such as taxation, military service, and subjection to US criminal laws. In general, CRT is not opposed to a communitarian vision of citizenship if its values group identity (Malavet, 2000). Such an approach would require some recognition of citizenship necessary for environmental enforcement. At present however, the options available to the territories is independence in isolation or continued integration with the colonizing power (Heim, 2017). Given our findings and prevalence of international power politics, it seems unlikely that the US will not increase green enforcement actions and extend further legal protection to the colonial isles. This point is illustrated by the Naval dredging of Apra Harbor demonstrating how military interests are prioritized over human rights, fisheries health, and conservation of Guam’s remaining coral reefs despite decades of scientific evidence (Savidge, 1984; Nelson et al., 2016).

Similar green criminal and pollution dynamics can be found on other US islands within incorporated states. The tourist style pollution observed throughout the Virgin Islands closely resemble Hawai’i and the Florida Keys. This form of economic othering claims to attract development while dispossessing locals of control by transferring land to private actors. These actors (resorts/hotels, cruise lines, and private estates) are frequently found to be in non-compliance. In this same vein, the commercialization of Puerto Rico has developed into a dense cluster of violations comparable to some of the notorious mainland urban areas (Thomson et al., 2020). The green criminal tendencies of the military (base installations, bombing ranges, chemical stockpiling, etc.) observed in Guam, American Samoa, and Vieques can also be found on St. Lawrence, Kodiak, and along the Alaskan Peninsula. Militaristic priorities consistency place “defense” over community and environmental health. It subjects the inhabitants of islands to a diverse bombardment of different hazardous threats. The nuclear legacy of the Marshall Islands and Johnson Atoll can also be found in underground detonations in Amchitka, Alaska (despite having been long established as a wildlife refuge). This form of extreme form of othering constitutes an ecocide event; an act which contaminates traditional cultures and communities by making their ancestral islands indefinitely uninhabitable.

While interest-convergence suggests laws would only be adjusted when beneficial for mainland interests, a combination of social movements and international court rulings have begun to address the legacies of toxic colonialism. The growth of EPA’s public reports and enforcement of penalties throughout the territorial islands is a good start. During this 5-year period, the EPA has issued over $215.3 million in environmental penalties suggesting that the extension of constitutional rights could be underway. The environmental enforcement effort appears challenged by continual non-compliance and relatively long period between facility inspections.

Conclusion

This study has highlighted the significance of examining contemporary environmental issues through the lens of colonialism and how this has shaped green criminal behavior throughout the unincorporated US territories. The enduring environmental costs of toxic colonialism to these islands and their inhabitants cannot be overstated. Crimes on US territorial islands illustrate three different criminogenic patterns: tourism and commercial industrialization (St. Thomas, San Juan), militarism (Andersen AFB), and nuclear testing (the Marshall Islands and Johnson Atoll). These three patterns employ different logics within their legal precedents; centered around their respective economic, nationalist, and atomic justifications each seeking to exploit these unincorporated territories for economic and political gains. Commercial, military, and nuclear harms are found to develop along unique geographical lines. Commercial harms tend to be located along scenic destinations and economic centers which attract mainland tourism. This differs significantly from the military installations which seek to establish strategic harbors and high ground defensive structures with nearby storage facilities. Nuclear testing tends to be concentrated in the most remote atolls which are permanently uninhabitable. Through integration of geospatial analysis and legal case studies, we have sought to aid in bridging the quantitative gap within green criminology. In doing so, we have drawn from CRT interest-convergence hypothesis to explain the spatial distribution of hazardous sites and selective enforcement of environmental laws (toxic colonialism). Although many gains and decontamination efforts have had a noticeable impact, water issues remain at the forefront of green criminal dynamics. Each of the territorial isles continue to face serious threats to their respective aquifers. This is compounded by rising seas wearing away low-lying atolls, eroding coastlines, and coral reefs, increase the prevalence and strength of storms and threatens food security from agriculture and fishing (Keener, 2013).

Far from being silent victims, many islanders across the territories have a tradition of resistance movements. The Vieques Naval Training Range was closed after the death of a civilian employee, David Sanes Rodríguez, from F-18 Marine Corp bombs sparking successive waves of civil disobedience. After years of sonic booms and hazardous exercises, locals trespassed onto the active military bombing range in protest. The popularization of justice claims by local subaltern groups against decades of harm advance a “alegal” application of colonial rule and serves as a basis for a larger resistance movement (Rojas-Páez, 2017). After 5 years of Mass demonstrations and police repression continued for 5 years until the Navy turned over the island to the Fish and Wildlife Service creating Vieques Wildlife Refuge which was immediately declared EPA superfund site. Similar protests in Puerto Rico starting in 1971 managed to close the Culebra Naval Base in 1975.

Marshall Islanders continue to raise awareness of the history of US colonialism and generate support for health and compensation programs long denied by the US government. They have won a few notable victories in international courts. Their ongoing campaign for nuclear justice was emphasized at the inaugural international Nuclear Legacy conference held in Majuro in 2017. Attendees renewed requests for the full disclosure by the US of all documentation regarding the nuclear tests, for the decontamination of irradiated islands and for compensation to nuclear victims and their descendants (Keown, 2017). The Marshallese also stand at the forefront of the struggle to address climate change; another injustice for which they are not responsible.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Ryan Thomson

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Toxic Colonialism in the Territorial Isles: A Geospatial Analysis of Environmental Crime Across U.S. Territorial Islands 2013–2017

Abstract

Keywords

Introduction

Relevance of the Study

A Brief History of Toxic Colonialism in the Marshall Islands

Critical Race Theory, Interest-Convergence, and Green Crime

Critical Race Theory in Green Legal Precedents

Data and Methods

Limitations

Findings and Results

Puerto Rico

Virgin Islands

St. Thomas and St. John

St. Croix

Guam

Northern Mariana Islands

American Samoa

The Minor Outlying Islands

Discussion

Conclusion

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

Funding

ORCID iD

References