The U.S. military creates a lot of hazardous waste. Its proposed solution? Burn or detonate up to 35,000 pounds of its leftover munitions each year on ancestral lands that it seized after World War II and local families seek to have returned.
This dangerous scheme is unfolding in the U.S. territory of Guam, and with the help of Earthjustice, a group called “Prutehi Litekyan: Save Ritidian” is fighting back. Led by activists from the CHamoru community, Indigenous people who have called Guam and the other Mariana Islands home for more than 3,500 years, Prutehi Litekyan is challenging the military’s efforts in court.
Group member Monaeka Flores, whose family once ranched the land next to the military’s proposed disposal site, talks about why it’s important to stop the military’s plans — both in Guam, and nationwide. Earthjustice is supporting these efforts as part of its broader work to build an environmental movement centered in justice.