Guam Blocks Deep Sea Mining

Industry not welcome in Pacific island territory

The shores of Guam. “Island Coast” by Jonathan Miske is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Guam has decided to prohibit deep sea mining. In doing so, the US Pacific island territory joins states like Washington, Oregon, California, and Hawaii, as well as American Samoa, which all have their own deep sea mining bans in place.

To a certain extent, these bans are symbolic. (They’re also temporary, since future governments can always decide to change course.) States and territories control the seas a few nautical miles from shore. Yet US federal waters reach 200 nautical miles beyond that. It’s in these federal waters (and the international waters beyond them) that deep sea mining would occur.

Local bans can’t stop deep sea mining from moving forward outside local waters. However, these bans can place local infrastructure off-limits, making mining projects more challenging.

Governor Lou Leon Guerrero recently signed a prohibition on mining in Guam’s waters. Not only does it block deep sea mining from the territory’s ocean, but it gives the Port Authority of Guam power to delay or deny port access to deep sea mining ships. Businesses involved in mining projects could also be fined up to $50,000 per day for violating the ban.

This would force mining interests operating near Guam to travel farther for things like transferring workers or offloading minerals.

A US naval aircraft carrier en route to the Port of Guam, which is by far the largest port in the region. Image by DOW Office Inspector General is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

Many Pacific islanders worry that deep sea mining could harm the fish species people rely on for food, as well as disrupting traditional navigation routes and ancestral relationships to the sea. There was strong support for Guam’s new ban.

“Our island’s connection to the ocean is inseparable from who we are as a people,” said Leon Guerrero. “This law sends a clear message that Guam will not support activities that threaten the health of our waters, our reefs, and the natural resources that sustain our community.”

US Releases Timeline for Domestic Deep Sea Mineral Leasing

Currently, deep sea mining isn’t being considered in Guam’s territorial or federal waters. However, Guam is in the same archipelago as the Northern Mariana Islands, another US territory. There, deep sea mining is being considered, with mineral lease sales (a first step toward possible mining) planned for the Marianas’ federal waters later this year.

So Guam’s new ban could soon be put to use. Guam has the largest port in the western Pacific, which would have been attractive to deep sea mining interests operating nearby.

The new law states that deep sea mining vessels may not use Guam’s “ports, harbors, anchorages, and territorial waters as staging, supply, or logistics bases” – unless local authorities decide to offer them permission.

“Guam has already carried more than its share of America’s strategic burden in the Pacific,” Senator William Parkinson told The Guam Daily Post. “We should not be treated as a convenient staging ground for risky extractive activity near our home.”