Judge tosses suit over Marine Corps air station relocation in Okinawa

SAN FRANCISCO — A U.S. judge has thrown out a lawsuit that challenged plans to relocate a U.S. military base in Okinawa, Japan, over concerns about an endangered marine mammal.

Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco ruled late Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Defense adequately considered the base's effects on the Okinawa dugong — a manatee-like animal associated with traditional creation myths in Japan.

Appeals court revives suit over US military base in Japan

A federal appeals court Monday revived a lawsuit that seeks to block construction of a U.S. military base in Okinawa, Japan over concerns about its impact on the Okinawa dugong, an endangered marine mammal that resembles a manatee.

Sudhin Thanawala, The Associated Press

August 21, 2017

The yearslong legal fight concerns plans to relocate Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to a less dense part of Okinawa.

Environmentalists say the construction of two aircraft runways as part of the construction plan will destroy critical feeding grounds and habitat for the dugong.

Peter Galvin with the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the plaintiffs, said the ruling was wrong and would be overturned by an appeals court.