GRENVILLE GARSIDE, Staff Director and Counsel W. O. CRAFT, Jr., Minority Counsel CONTENTS Compton, Ruby I., attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council___ Gibbons, Ibedul Yutaka, High Chief, traditional leader of Palau_. Gresser, Julian, visiting professor, Harvard Law School---. Hilton, Rear Adm. Robert P., U.S. Navy, Director of the East Asia and Pacific Region, Office of Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Department of Defense_-- Johnson, Richard T., associate professor, Graduate School of Business, Johnston, Hon. J. Bennett, a U.S. Senator from the State of Louisiana__ Ngairaingas, Jackson R., representing people of the Island of Peleliu---- Oakley, Robert B., Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Department of State_. Packard, Fred M., International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, and secretary to Commission on National Parks and Panero, Robert, president, Robert Panero Associates, New York, N.Y_. Roe, David B., Environmental Defense Fund.-- Toribiong, Johnson, floor leader, Palau Legislature, and chairman of spe- Uludong, Moses, chairman, Save Palau Organization, Youth of Palau, 33, 34 Yaoch, Father Felix, representing the "Conscience of Palau". 36, 38 Material submitted for the record by Hon. James A. Joseph, Under Secre- Agreement between the Government of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands and Nissho-Iwai Co., Ltd./Industrial Bank of Japan_ APPENDIX II Additional material submitted for the record by Ruby Compton: Site screening prefeasibility study for a petroleum transshipment Communications, newspaper articles, and other addenda__. APPENDIX III Additional statements and communications submitted for the record_____ Page 373 463 543 581 PALAU DEEPWATER PORT THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 1977 U. S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES, Washington, D.C. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in room 3110, Dirksen Office Building, Hon. J. Bennett Johnston, presiding. Present: Senators Johnston, Matsunaga, Bartlett, and Weicker. Also present: James P. Beirne, counsel. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. J. BENNETT JOHNSTON, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF LOUISIANA Senator JOHNSTON. The hearing will come to order. This hearing is an informational oversight into the possible location of a superport in the Palau district of the trust territory. Under the Senate reorganization, the committee has a severe time. limitation for this hearing, and accordingly, I would appreciate it if all witnesses would submit their written statements for inclusion in the record. I might say I asked that this hearing be initiated, and, as luck would have it, we have a markup in the Appropriations Committee to consider a number of important things, including the President's stimulus program, which I am going to have to run away to right at 10:30. This is a severe disappointment to me because I happen to think this superport could be a matter of first priority in the Pacific and for the whole Nation as well. It is something I think we need to give very careful consideration to. I think it is important if we build a superport that it be constructed in a sound manner, not only from an environmental standpoint, or from a physical standpoint, but that it be structured well juridically, from the relationship of it to this country and to Japan, so the relationship will be sound and reliable. The first witness will be Mr. Robert Panero, of Robert Panero and Associates, from New York. I will ask, gentlemen, if you will summarize as best you can, we can get into the substance of this more quickly. We will read carefully all of the statements at our leisure, but our time is very limited this morning. STATEMENT OF ROBERT PANERO, PRESIDENT, ROBERT PANERO ASSOCIATES, NEW YORK, N.Y. Mr. PANERO. My name is Bob Panero. I have provided you with a statement that goes into my credentials and background and the concept and current status of this project, the basic concept of the Palau idea, the current status and some observations on it. I can summarize it first of all as a concept by saying we noted there were certain trends in world shipping and world trade. One: An increasing transworld specialization. This resulting also in increased size of ships. This resulted in route change. The classic relationship between port and city where the port helped the city grow and the city helped the port grow, topping out, and now special ports being built far and remote from the cities. The switch in intensive labor to capital intensive course, and the whole basic change in relationships in international trade. For example, the ports in the Middle East today. The concept of Palau is very simple. First of all, I have circled on that map, which can hardly be seen, where Palau is. It stretches actually from Pelew Reef to a Reef called Velasco Reef, from Latitude 3° to Latitude 812°. That distance is about 500 kilometers. It is a barrier reef that separates the Pacific Ocean and the west from the Philippine Sea. It sits astride the Celebes Sea, which is Philippines to the north and Indonesia to the south. It has five basic things. There are six natural harbors, harbor sites, along the 100-mile west coast of Palau, both inside and outside the reef line. By a great natural harbor, I mean one that varies from 10 to 100 square miles of protected water, complete protection from the sea, large depths, depths on the order of 800 to 400 feet. So the first element of the concept, there are six great harbors there. Any one of those six is better than any natural harbor from Maine to the coast of Mexico in the United States. We have none that compare to any one. The second element is they can be adapted. at a very low cost. Normally in constructing a port, you put a lot of money into protection, into increasing depth, into breakwaters, into increasing size, various things of that character. Here you don't have to pay for any of that stuff. You don't have to deepen it, you don't have to widen it, you don't have to construct break fronts. Third; One of the trends in the oil route between the Persian Gulf and Japan is that large tankers of today, some of the DLCC's and some of the ULCC's, cannot pass through Malacca Straits, which is the old route. They cannot go through here on the South China Sea because they draw too much water. This is limited to about 60 feet and at some places has a narrows of 400 feet. The large ships now go through the Straits of Lombok between the island of Lombok and the island of Bali, up through the Celebes and out, and therefore, pass near Palau several hundred miles. There are four ULCC's running on that route today. Those four ships carry about 8 percent of |