By Pacific Island Times News Staff
The Navy has identified five new proposed projects on Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz in Dededo including training facilities in preparation for the relocation of 5,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam.
The public commenting period began on Aug. 9 and will continue until Sept. 22.
The projects, located within the existing utilities and site improvements project area, include the construction of artillery battery facilities, a recreation center, a religious ministry services facility, a training center and the 9th Engineer Support Battalion Training Complex.
“The projects are on a mostly flat, uplifted limestone plateau. The majority of the interior of the island is comprised of Mariana limestone,” the Navy’s programmatic memo states.
The Navy said the project locations underwent mitigation prior to the existing projects consisting of roads, drainage systems, water, wastewater, electrical, communications, security fencing, as well as earthwork activities such as vegetation clearance, grading, cutting and filling.
“Concurrent with this work, the Navy is performing additional archaeological efforts consistent with the 2018 resolution agreement with Guam (state historic preservation office),” the memo states. “Archaeologists will complete these investigations before the construction projects presented in this PA memo begin.”
The area sizes for each project are listed as follow:
· Artillery Battery Facilities 8.6 acres
· Recreation Center 2.5 acres
· Religious Ministry ServicesFacility 1.4 acres
· Training Center 5.9 acres
· 9th Engineer SupportBattalion Training Complex 9.1 acresADVERTISEMENT
Project descriptions are as follow:
Artillery Battery Facilities: This project proposes a two-story company battery headquarters that include administrative offices, conference rooms, electrical/communications maintenance shop and vehicle bays, heavy gun shop and maintenance bays, storage of air or ground organic units, controlled humidity warehouse, restrooms, nursing mother’s room, storage rooms, mechanical, electrical and communication spaces.
Recreation Center: This project proposes construction of a permanent low-rise recreation center with reinforced concrete walls and floor, roof with fluid-applied roofing and concrete shallow foundation A covered outdoor gathering area and utility support spaces will also be included, along with mechanical, electrical and telecommunications rooms.
ReligiousMinistry Services Facility: This project proposes to construct a low-rise facility for religious ministry services.
Training Center: The project proposes primary facilities consist of a trainer building with operational simulator trainer spaces, applied instruction spaces. private and open offices, server rooms, meeting rooms storage areas and miscellaneous support spaces.
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9th Engineer SupportBattalion Training Complex: Proposed facilities consist of a medium-heavy equipment training area (HE Dig Pit), a water supply training area and a bulk fuel training area designed to train personnel in the operation of combat earthmoving equipment, purification of non-potable water and the distribution of bulk fuel (using either fuel or non-potable water).
The HE Dig Pit is an open pit filled with soil that will be utilized for training purposes. The grading and earthmoving training operations require storm water runoff sediment control, as well as dust control. Included within the HE Dig Pit is a tank trap training area for an excavator to perform with a dozer blade
"The DoD finds that the subject construction will have no historic properties affected because while historic properties were identified in the APE, the
properties have undergone the agreed upon mitigation processes and are thus no longer extant," the memo states.
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