The US Navy and Department of Defense want a lawsuit dropped that aims to prevent the relocation of 5000 marines from Okinawa to Guam and to stop live-fire training on the Northern Marianas islands of Tinian and Pagan.
The trial attorney for the US Department of Justice, Taylor Ferrell, told the CNMI District Court the five groups suing the agencies failed to adequately identify one or more of their claims during the administrative process, thereby waiving the lawsuit.
The groups - the Tinian Women Association, Guardians of Gani, Pagan Watch and the Center for Biological Diversity - are suing the defendants for alleged violation of the National Environmental Protection Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.