Eighteen community-based environmental and cultural organizations from across all five territories have joined together in a Supreme Court filing urging that the U.S. Air Force be required to follow federal environmental and community engagement standards when making decisions about the open detonation of dangerous explosives that present significant risks to ecologically and culturally significant areas.

The groups are represented by Right to Democracy, a non-profit organization that seeks to advance democracy and self-determination in U.S. territories. The amicus brief was filed in support of a legal challenge brought by Prutehi Guåhan and EarthJustice, which will be heard by the Supreme Court on October 7, 2026.

Maria Hernandez, Co-Executive Director of the Micronesia Climate Change Alliance (MCCA), which helped organize the brief, explained what’s at stake: “This case is merely the most recent example of how the legacy of military contamination continues to affect communities across Guam and other territories. From Cocos Lagoon to Mongmong-Toto-Maite and now to Tarague Beach, CHamoru families and community members have raised long-standing concerns about elevated rates of contaminants such as PCBs and DDT that are linked to increasing rates of cancer diagnoses. The ongoing risk of contamination to Guam’s Northern Lens Aquifer, the island’s primary source of drinking water, underscores the far-reaching consequences of military activities and the urgent need for stronger environmental protections and public accountability. At the same time, ancestral landowners of Ritidian continue to call for the return of their lands, emphasizing that environmental stewardship, cultural preservation, and justice are inseparable from the restoration of CHamoru access to and care for their ancestral homelands.” She concluded: “These historical toxins and ongoing threats to water and lands impose lasting burdens on the CHamoru people while decisions about military land use and cleanup remain largely outside Guam’s democratic control.” 

“We are proud to represent community organizations in the territories to make the case that when the U.S. military is developing plans to dispose of explosives and other toxic materials, it must seek public input and conduct environmental studies before any decisions are made,” said Neil Weare, Co-Director of Right to Democracy and one of the lead attorneys on the brief. “The Air Force argument that less ecological and community review are required when it disposes of hazardous waste than when it builds roads or warehouses defies not just federal law, but common sense.”

The organizations argue that the Air Force must follow two federal environmental laws, the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which offer complementary legal frameworks that help advance meaningful environmental review and community participation. They also highlight how a history of undemocratic governance in each territory makes these procedural protections even more important. Finally, they emphasize that denying community participation and environmental review would conflict with U.S. international commitments to “Non-Self-Governing Territories” and Indigenous communities.

“The federal government continues to deny people in the territories their basic political rights and self-determination. NEPA's public participation process is one of the only mechanisms local communities have for influencing federal decisions that affect their lives and lands,” said Adi Martínez-Roman, Co-Director of Right to Democracy. “As the history of each of our communities demonstrates, this case is important not just for Guam, but for every U.S. territory.”

Additional statements from amici below:

  • Dr. Steven Mana'oakamai Johnson, Acting President, Tåno, Tåsi, yan Todu (Marianas): “Our communities are not only held accountable to the law, we are also held accountable to the land, water, and air. NEPA and other environmental policies articulate this accountability. Efforts to sidestep this process are not only undemocratic, but they are also disrespectful of cultural, relational, and ethical principles.”  

  • Melvin L.O. Faisao, Senior Advisor, URAALI Refaluwasch Association (NMI): “For many Indigenous island communities, the environment cannot be separated from cultural identity, language, history, traditional practices, or sacred places. Protecting natural resources through meaningful public participation safeguards living cultural heritage that is passed from one generation to the next. Ensuring robust public engagement at the earliest stages of federal decision-making advances both environmental stewardship and the preservation of irreplaceable cultural resources for future generations.”

  • Gregorie Michael Towai (Eipéráng), Founder of Refaluwasch Journal of Knowledge and Culture, LLC (NMI): “This case represents far more than a legal dispute. It speaks to the importance of meaningful public participation, environmental stewardship, Indigenous knowledge, and the principle that communities most affected by federal actions deserve to have a meaningful voice before decisions with lasting consequences are made.”

  • Sabrina Suluai-Mahuka, Founder and Chair, Finafinau (American Samoa): “The public participation afforded by NEPA is critical to people in the territories. This isn't just about one project. It's about protecting the public's right to be heard before decisions with lasting consequences are made, especially as the federal government considers other extractive activities like deep-sea mining in our islands.”

  • Dulce María del Rio-Pineda, Co-Founder & Organizational Coordinator, Mujeres de Islas (Puerto Rico):  “This case has sweeping implications for advocates of the environment and self-determination across the territories and the United States. We must stand together in solidarity with the people of Guam despite being all the way in the Caribbean, especially as the U.S. military once again expands its activities in Puerto Rico.”

  • Hadiya Sewer, President and Co-Founder, St. JanCo (U.S. Virgin Islands): “We in the U.S. Virgin Islands are no strangers to federal control and federal actions that impact our land and people. We support our territorial family members in Guam in this fight to ensure we all have a voice and say in the decisions that affect our communities.”

  • Stevie Merino, Executive Director, Birthworkers of Color Collective (Guam): "These efforts are critical to our island communities and the future of our land, water, and people. Environmental policies are urgent and imperative for optimal reproductive health and justice. Any decisions that are made could have life-long and generational health impacts and it is vital that the voices of the community are front and center, especially those who are most vulnerable." 

The organizations are also represented by attorneys at Curtis, Mallet-Prevost,  Colt & Mosle LLP. 

The full amicus brief is available here, with a summary of the brief available here. 

If you are interested in connecting with counsel or amici, please reach out to Neil Weare, [email protected], 202-365-7427.

 

The full list of amici include:

Marianas (Guam & NMI)

  • Micronesia Climate Change Alliance (MCCA)

  • Tåno, Tåsi, Yan Todu

  • Birthworkers of Color Collective

  • Guåhan Sustainable Culture

  • Friends of the Marianas Trench

  • Refaluwasch Journal of Knowledge and Culture

  • URAALI Refaluwasch Association

Puerto Rico

  • Amigxs del M.A.R.

  • El Puente Puerto Rico

  • FURIA, Inc.

  • Mujeres de Islas

  • Resiliency Law Center

U.S. Virgin Islands

  • St. Croix Environmental Association

  • St. JanCo: The St. John Heritage Collective

  • Virgin Islands Institute for Social Impact, Opulence, and Noetics, Inc. (VIISION)

American Samoa

  • Finafinau

  • Pacific Global Citizens Inc.

  • Puipui Measina A Amerika Samoa