US Pushes Deep-Sea Mining Around Pacific Territories — SkimNews
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- Lou Leon Guerrero, governor of Guam, learned of the federal plan to lease millions of acres of her territory's seafloor to mining companies by reading a news article on November 12 — she said no one in Washington had warned her.
- The Trump administration announced plans in July to auction 31 million acres of continental shelf around American Samoa in mid-November, followed by an August announcement of a December auction covering more than 67 million acres around the Mariana Islands.
- Earthjustice filed lawsuits against the administration on behalf of conservation groups in American Samoa and the Mariana Islands, arguing the government has not yet determined whether seabed mining would harm whales and sea turtles protected under the Endangered Species Act.
- US territories like Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands cannot vote for president, have no voting representation in Congress, and their territorial waters are subject to federal decisions over their objections — unlike neighboring independent Pacific nations such as Samoa, which controls its own waters.
- American Samoa's mining ban extends only 3 nautical miles from shore, while the federal government claims jurisdiction over a 200-mile radius — leaving the vast majority of surrounding waters open to mining despite the territory's stated opposition.
- Tuna makes up more than 99 percent of American Samoa's exports, and a recent study suggests mining could create sediment plumes that harm large fish, though mining companies dispute those claims.
- The Trump administration ordered regulators to begin processing applications for mining in international waters under a decades-old US law, prompting objections from more than 170 nations that say Washington is circumventing international law.
Why it matters: By authorizing more than 98 million acres of seafloor leases around three US territories — populations that cannot vote for president and have no congressional representation — the administration is overriding the express opposition of territorial governors and ignoring international norms on Indigenous consent, while environmental reviews have not yet determined harm to protected species.
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