'Moving into commercial mining would be premature': American Samoa, Guam put their foot down
By Jayvee Vallejera
Leaders of American Samoa and Guam are pushing back against federal efforts to open surrounding oceans to deep-sea mining, saying Washington cannot just rush into the uncharted depths of commercial seabed mining without regard for the island communities that rely on the ocean for their survival.
The pushback comes as the federal government ratchets up ambitious plans to issue exploration leases in federal waters across the outer continental shelf—areas outside each territory’s exclusive economic zones.
For Pacific islanders, whose history, culture and economies are intrinsically tied to the ocean, the risks of destruction from deep-sea mining outweigh any speculative financial gains, according to Guam and American Samoa governors.
Their message to federal officials is crystal clear: the Pacific Ocean is neither a petri dish nor a sacrificial zone for industrial experimentation.
In a 12-page letter to Douglas Boren, regional director for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in the Pacific, American Samoa Gov. Pulaali'i Nikolao Pula warned against being blinded to immediate opportunities and overlooking the looming hazards posed by the federal proposal.
Pula said that large-scale commercial deep-sea mineral extraction is an untested threat.
“My position remains clear: American Samoa does not support commercial deep-sea mineral extraction at this time,” Pula told Boren.
He said there remain too many unanswered questions about the potential effects of large-scale mineral extraction on deep-ocean ecosystems, fisheries and the broader marine environment.
"Until those questions are better understood, moving into commercial mining would be premature,” Pula said.
At the G20 energy ministers meeting in Houston on Sept. 14, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced that the Trump administration would begin issuing deep-sea mining permits "within months" as part of the United States' drive to accelerate access to the critical minerals used across much of the country’s economy.
The Metals Company, which sits at the front of the process, expects the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to issue the final decision in the first quarter of 2027.
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Pula acknowledges that the decision to issue leases in federal waters technically rests with the U.S. government, but insists that American Samoa will not be passive bystanders.
If the federal government insists on moving forward with preliminary survey activities, Pula said those activities must be strictly for scientific and environmental research—not for mining. He emphasized that any award of an exploration license does not mean the lease awardee will also be entitled to a mining license later.
If the leaseholder wants to move from research to commercial mining, that step must be treated as a completely different matter, subject to comprehensive, independent environmental reviews and full territorial consultation, he added.
American Samoa’s concerns extend beyond the seabed itself.
Pula highlighted severe potential impacts on local infrastructure, operations of the Pago Pago Harbor and protected marine reserves.
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Pula said American Samoa’s main harbor already operates under strict limits as a designated special management area under the local Coastal Management Program. Adding survey vessels and support ships of seabed mining companies could easily overwhelm local wastewater systems, waste disposal and berthing capacities, he added.
Pula also demanded rigorous environmental baseline monitoring, strict protections against gear conflicts with local fishing fleets, explicit safeguards for American Samoa’s Rose Atoll Marine National Monument and financial guarantees that local taxpayers are not left holding the bill for potential environmental disasters.
“Costs created by lease activities should not simply be transferred to the American Samoa government. Where lease activities necessitate improvements, repairs or additional infrastructure capacity, BOEM should establish the principle that reasonable costs attributable to those activities are the responsibility of the lessee,” Pula said.
On Guam, Gov. Lou Leon-Guerrero is spearheading a parallel campaign to ensure that island communities have a decisive voice in federal plans for underwater mineral leases in the Mariana archipelago.
In a letter to federal officials, including Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Boren, Leon-Guerrero demanded that the Department of the Interior honor federal mandates recognizing Guam as an adjacent state, thereby granting Guam formal, mandatory consultation rights.
"The leasing of seabed minerals is unprecedented, and makes careful, formal consultation all the more necessary to safeguard Guam’s environment, economy, and people,” Leon-Guerrero said.
CNMI Gov. David Apatang is also expected to issue his comments on BOEM's plan in the next few days.
He said in an earlier press release that the commonwealth’s evaluation will remain firmly anchored in protecting its people, environment, and the CNMI’s marine resources.
“Our administration approaches this announcement with extreme caution,” Apatang said. “We must ensure that no activity, survey or otherwise, takes place without rigorous scientific baseline studies, complete transparency, and explicit protections for our marine resources.”
In July 2026, it announced a plan to sell leases to 31 million acres of the continental shelf off American Samoa. A month later, MMA also issued a similar notice of plans to auction off leases for more than 67 million acres of the Outer Continental Shelf off the coasts of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam.
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