FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Honolulu District is scheduled to host an informational Right of Entry event April 16 and 17 in Yigo, Guam, to answer questions about the Right of Entry form needed to support the remediation of the Area 101 Formerly Used Defense Site.
The Area 101 Formerly Used Defense Site is in the Municipality of Yigo, and consists of approximately 842 acres immediately south of Andersen Air Force Base. Area 101 was designated for use as a U.S. Army Garrison Forces Bomb Disposal site from April 1945 to September 1946.
Today, the Department of Defense is responsible for the environmental restoration of properties that were formerly owned by, leased to or otherwise possessed by the U.S. and under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Defense prior to October 1986. Such properties are known as Formerly Used Defense Sites, or FUDS. The U.S. Army is DoD’s lead agent for the FUDS Program.
A Right of Entry, or ROE, is a legal document that grants USACE and government contractors access to a resident’s property to determine whether military munitions are present. Signed ROEs are necessary to start field investigations that will include surface and subsurface removal of munitions and debris within areas that posed a risk to the public.
The Corps has notified all landowners in Area 101 by phone or postal mail of the ROE request; however, this two-day event is an opportunity for the community to ask questions and sign ROEs in person. The information booth will be at the St. Lourdes Church Social Hall at 153 Chalan Pale’ Ramon Lagu, Yigo, Guam, April 16 and 17 from 4 to 7 p.m.
These outreach sessions are a continuation of the three-day ROE the Honolulu District hosted in September at the same location, during which Corps representatives engaged with more than 100 community members, facilitating the ROE signing for 132 out of 446 parcels of land.
“Last year’s event gave us a great opportunity to meet community members, answer their questions and collect more than half of the ROEs required to start the Remedial Investigation process,” said Iwona Jeanbaptiste, project manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Honolulu District’s Environmental Branch. “Our goal this year is to continue this successful campaign of providing community members accurate, up-to-date information and to finish gathering as many signed ROE forms as possible so we can start the RI process.”
The Army and DoD are dedicated to protecting human health and the environment by investigating and, if required, cleaning up potential contamination including munitions that may remain on these properties from past DoD activities.
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