The deep-sea mining dilemma: National security vs environmental destruction

By Mar-Vic Cagurangan

Leaders of the U.S. territories have repeatedly said “no” to President Trump’s plan to exploit critical mineral deposits in the seabed offshore of the Pacific island jurisdictions. But the threat posed by China, which is being framed to justify the plan, creates a predicament that leaves the territorial governors with little power and may ultimately compel them to compromise.

In reality, their powers are limited.

“From the shores to the ocean—3 miles—that's called territorial waters. So the governor has authority over that. I already said no,” American Samoa Gov. Nikolau Pula said.

However, he expects his resistance to be met with a federal override. “From 3 miles going on to 200 miles, that's the EEZ for the federal government,” he said.

The governor also noted that American waters are not the only target areas. Competing nations are also eyeing the high seas, which are governed by the International Seabed Authority.

“I want the people to know that China also wants to get stuff,” Pula said.

Locked in a race with Beijing for control of critical ocean minerals, the Marine Mineral Administration last month released a proposal to auction deep-sea mining leases for 69 million acres of seafloor off the coast of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam. The leases ​would allow companies to extract polymetallic nodules that could be used in batteries, electronics and defense technologies.

The proposed lease notice for deep-sea exploration in the Marianas region came just weeks after the federal government initiated a leasing process for 31 million acres of American Samoa’s seafloor.  Contracts are expected to be awarded in November.

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Pula pleaded with the U.S. government to slow down on its plan, warning that disturbing American Samoa's marine ecosystems would jeopardize the island’s tuna industry. “Let’s not move too fast,” he said in a video posted on American Samoa’s social media page.

John Wasko, executive director of the private consulting group American Samoa Development Council, said the territory stands to receive “geopolitical benefit” from deep-sea mining.

“The territory becomes the South Pacific center for America’s national defense and security,” he said. “Ultimately, the biggest benefit to American Samoa’s critical mineral industry reverses global atmospheric poisoning. Fossil fuel consumption is destroying the earth’s atmosphere slowly but surely. Fossil fuel consumption is the leading cause of ocean acidification.”

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that 31 billion tons of critical minerals are deposited within 1,000 miles of Pago Pago Harbor, which Wasko said could drive American Samoa’s economic growth.

"In a very practical view, the critical mineral processing industry mimics American Samoa’s tuna processing industry," Wasko said. "Seabed miners bring their product to the delivery dock. The refining company values the

minerals according to composition and content and pays the critical mineral extraction owner."

While acknowledging the federal government’s strategic focus on identifying critical mineral supply chains, CNMI Gov. David Apatang said his government’s evaluation will remain firmly anchored in protecting the environment and marine resources.

“Our administration approaches this announcement with extreme caution,” Apatang said. “While MMA’s proposed action covers preliminary data collection rather than commercial extraction, 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.”

On Guam, the Office of the Governor said it recognized the national importance of securing reliable supplies of critical minerals and reducing the United States’ dependence on foreign sources.

“Guam understands national security and the strategic needs of our nation perhaps better than most American communities,” the Office of the Governor of Guam said in a statement. “But national security cannot mean asking the people of the Pacific to accept environmental risks before those risks are fully understood.”

With several companies setting their sights on the Clarion-Clipperton zone, seabed exploration is expected to become a $1 trillion industry.

“That is why the time to ask hard questions is before we cross that threshold, not afterward,” the governor’s office said. “The Department of the Interior and MMA are urged to proceed cautiously, transparently and in genuine consultation with the governments and people of the Mariana Islands.”

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