WASHINGTON — The United States on Wednesday welcomed the delivery of Japan’s environmental impact report to the Okinawa Prefectural Government on the relocation of the Futenma base, calling the move “significant progress” on their military realignment plan.
Pentagon press secretary George Little said in a statement that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta welcomed the news and “looks forward to working with Japan in taking the next step: securing the landfill permit.”
His remarks came as Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima repeated that he will not give the green light to the land reclamation work needed to build the replacement facility for U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.
Tokyo is likely to find itself squeezed between strong opposition to the base from Okinawa and rising pressure to move forward with the relocation plan from Washington.
After learning of the report’s delivery, Little said the United States appreciates Tokyo’s efforts to move the relocation plan forward.
Little also suggested the plan to keep the air base in the island prefecture will serve the interests of the people of Okinawa despite their strong opposition to it.
“Progress on the Futenma Replacement Facility is a critical part of the realignment of our forces in Japan and Guam, which ultimately will result in fewer marines in Okinawa,” the Pentagon spokesman said.
The U.S. remains committed to the principles of the 2006 road map for the military realignment and to a military presence in Japan, the statement said. The base relocation and the transfer of some 8,000 marines to Guam is part of a package deal for the realignment of U.S. forces.
“U.S. forces in Japan are indispensable to the defense of Japan, to the maintenance of peace and security across the region, and to our ability to respond effectively to humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters across the Western Pacific,” the statement added.
The environmental assessment report concluded that the construction of the replacement facility for the base on a coastal area of the island prefecture does not pose “a particular problem” to the environment and that aircraft noise will not exceed the permissible level.
Submission of the report marks one of the final stages in the assessment procedures that began in 2007 under a Japan-U.S. agreement to relocate the marine base.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20111229x2.html
